Chapter 159: Li Hongfei entered the cabinet
The battle of the Northern Expedition on the front line was in full swing, and the political struggle in the rear was also quietly brewing. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
On Li Hongfei's side, the Cao Gang had already transformed, and gradually transferred the important Cao Yun business to the imperial court, and the main force quietly retreated to Xin'an County, Guangdong.
In the second year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1369), Guangdong Province was changed to Guangdong Province and other places, and Haibei Hainan Province was changed to Guangdong, and Guangdong became one of the thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.
Later, during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, part of the place was carved out from Dongguan County, Guangdong Province to form Xin'an County, which was later Hong Kong.
Since the Ming Dynasty, Hong Kong has become a distribution center for transshipment of goods by sea due to its geographical location, and merchant ships from Zhejiang, Fujian and other places to Nanyang will basically stop here to replenish freshwater supplies.
Coupled with the advantages of its natural port, ocean-going cargo ships from all over the South Seas and even Europe have taken Hong Kong as the first stop to enter China.
Li Hongfei let Situ Yan gain a foothold here, firstly, in order to leave a way back for himself, if he loses power in this power struggle, he will also have a place to stay.
The second is because of the Portuguese.
A large number of Chinese settlements on the Macau Peninsula have been recorded at the time of the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians of the Southern Song Dynasty retreated from Fujian and drove to Macao by captain, and some of them set foot on this peninsula to draw fresh water and find food, and some even opened up this desolate area into a hiding place to settle.
The Patane Land Temple, named "Yongfu Ancient Society" on the Macao Peninsula, is said to have been built in the late Southern Song Dynasty.
Around the end of the Southern Song Dynasty to the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Mong-Ha, Haojing and other places on the Macao Peninsula were already settled settlements.
It was also from then on that Macao began to be slightly populated, but due to the small place, lack of arable land, and few products, it was not easy to base themselves on life and reproduce offspring, so it was not until the middle of the 16th century, that is, during the reign of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1557), that the Portuguese sought the right of residence in Macao in the Ming Dynasty, and Macao began to gradually prosper.
The Portuguese lived here for trade with the Ming Dynasty, so since they occupied Macau, it has become the largest shipping terminal in Guangdong Province.
Of course, this is not unrelated to the Ming Dynasty's measures to ban the sea.
Since the implementation of the ban on the sea in the Ming Dynasty, Hong Kong, the most advantageous transit station, has gradually declined, but has become Macao, which is not far away.
Li Hongfei sent a fleet to Hong Kong in order to compete with the Portuguese for the maritime market.
Being a pirate is just a side job, and Situ Yan's main business is transportation, but he has changed from transportation to shipping.
As for running the colony, Zheng Zhilong is in charge, but the time has not yet come, and the most important thing is to gain a firm foothold in Hong Kong first.
After bringing back a large amount of spices and rubber from the Nanyang region with the fleet of the Cao Gang, Suzhou Heavy Industry, which had abundant financial resources (spices were equivalent to gold at that time) and material resources (natural rubber was one of the most important industrial raw materials besides steel), began a new round of industrial development plan.
At least the emergence of rubber tires not only facilitated the army, but also greatly facilitated the people in Suzhou.
In the army, rubber tires were applied to the gun carriage, and the wooden axles were replaced with rubber tires, which not only reduced the weight of the gun, but also increased the ability to adapt to complex terrain.
Civilian, due to the industrial development of the people, the whole Suzhou area, the pace of life gradually faster, even the scale of the city has gradually expanded, many people who work in the factory, because the place of residence is far away from the factory, resulting in daily work, have to get up early to rush to the road, although the working time is only 12 hours (private enterprises are 12 hours), but plus the time to go back and forth, some workers who are far away, almost have to spend about 16 hours.
In the past, the only means of transportation they used to travel was to rely on their legs, after all, horse-drawn carriages were not a high-end means of transportation that ordinary workers could afford.
But the advent of bicycles, has greatly improved this situation, although not as fast as the carriage, but this guy does not need to eat grass, the operation is also very simple, and can adapt to various road conditions, is simply a necessary tool for urban traffic.
The most important thing is that bicycles are much cheaper than horses, and ordinary workers can buy them for half a month's salary, although the price is not cheap, but the time saved is enough for them to earn back more profits.
As soon as the bicycle was developed, the yamen of Suzhou counties couldn't wait to place the first batch of orders, not that they were in the Suzhou prefect Wu Hao, but this kind of thing is really practical, and the yamen was quickly distributed bicycles, and in the process of handling the case, they could arrive at the scene more quickly.
Nowadays, the development of cities is too fast, there are too many people pouring into various places, and there are all kinds of religions and nine streams, and it is inevitable that there will be some omissions in public security.
Suzhou is in the stage of rapid development, and a good public security environment can retain more businessmen who come to invest, which Wu Hao has heard Li Hongfei mention many times, so he does not dare to slack off.
The quality of life of the people has improved, and they are naturally grateful to Li Hongfei, although he is no longer in the position of the prefect of Suzhou, but the people are not stupid in their hearts, and the development of Suzhou today is inseparable from Li Hongfei's drastic reform measures.
In addition, Li Hongfei, as a traverser, is even better at using public opinion means, he used to have Zhu Youzhen as an umbrella, so he naturally disdained to use public opinion to elevate his status, but now that he has turned his face with Zhu Youzhen, then he must vigorously win over the hearts of the people, so that even if he fails in the political wrestling, he will not be killed.
Suzhou is the place where he started, where the mass foundation is solid, regardless of rumors or facts, as long as there is anything about Li Hongfei, basically no one dares to say bad things, many ordinary people even set up a longevity card for Li Hongfei.
The reason why Zhu Youzhen did not dare to move Li Hongfei easily was that in addition to his status as an "immortal", it was more a matter of popular opinion.
The reason why Wei Zhongxian was beheaded and confiscated after the failure of the political struggle was because he lost the hearts of the people, and even the people were eager to swallow him alive.
Li Hongfei is different, there are too many people who support him, which makes Zhu Youzhen have a headache, and he is worried that he will affect his whole body.
In addition, Li Hongfei has a good character, rarely makes mistakes, and there is not enough reason to move an important minister of the court, and he is an important minister of the court to save the Ming Dynasty in danger, and he Zhu Youzhen does not have the courage.
The political form of the Ming Dynasty was not like that of the Southern Song Dynasty, Li Hongfei was not Yue Wumu, and he Zhu Youzhen did not want to be the Song Gaozong.
"Holy Lord, you can't indulge like this, Li Menghui's formation of a party for personal gain is obvious to all, the students in the regular class of the Military Academy all claim to be Li Menghui's disciples, if you wait until these people enter the army, then isn't the entire Ming army up to Li Menghui alone?" Gao Hongtu reminded.
By now, most people in the DPRK and China understand that they were put together by Li Hongfei.
The reason why the other side agreed to resign from the post of commander-in-chief of the First Army was to enter the cabinet, the center of power of the Ming Dynasty.
If Li Hongfei had been allowed to enter the Ministry of War, then with the power of the Donglin Party in the court, it would be basically impossible for Li Hongfei to enter the cabinet, and the post of secretary of the Ministry of War would have reached the top.
But now it's different, don't look at Li Hongfei now, he doesn't have any real power, but his words can even affect the decision-making of the imperial court, the students of the Military Academy, in addition to entering the Ministry of National Defense, can also enter the Ministry of War, plus after six years of compulsory education, those poor students who were admitted to the imperial examination have a good impression of Li Hongfei.
Whether it is a minister or a general, Li Hongfei has begun to slowly infiltrate.
If it is not curbed, after the other party really enters the cabinet, according to his character of always rejecting civil servants, it is estimated that there will be nothing to do with these civil officials.
The Donglin Party did not take the military generals faction in their eyes at all in the past, their opponent was only Zhu Youzhen, and even in the face of Zhu Youzhen, they all fell behind, and now there is another Li Hongfei who rejects them extremely, how can there be a future in the DPRK in the future?
Fortunately, Zhu Youzhen still needs them to govern the country, although the power has been weakened, but at least they still have some authority, and now the Donglin Party can only get enough benefits in this political game by attaching themselves to Zhu Youzhen's side.
After all, in the past, Zhu Youzhen and the Donglin Party were playing, and the chess pieces were the military generals group, and now Li Hongfei and Zhu Youzhen are playing, and the chess pieces are naturally their Donglin Party members.
If you don't want to suffer heavy losses, standing in line as soon as possible has become the best choice for Gao Hongtu and others, after all, the Donglin Party is weak now, and it is impossible to withstand the attacks of both sides at the same time.
"Li Menghui formed a party for personal gain? Gao Aiqing, as a cabinet scholar, you can't talk nonsense about things without evidence! Zhu Youzhen said with a serious face: "Li Menghui is the dean of the Military Academy, and the students respect and worship him, which is also a reasonable thing. ”
When it comes to forming a party for personal gain, who can compare to the Donglin Party, if it weren't for the fact that these people are still needed now, Zhu Youzhen would be eager to scold.
If Li Hongfei is punished for this kind of crime, then if it spreads, his name as Zhu Youzhen will be confirmed.
"Even if he can't punish the crime, he can't let it go, otherwise the longer Li Menghui stays in the Military Academy, the greater the impact on the army, if he completely controls the Ming army, the consequences will be unimaginable!" Qian Qianyi, the left attendant of the ministry, proposed.
"This is a fact, in my Ming army, there can be no more factional disputes, otherwise it is very easy to affect the stability and unity of the army, Qian Aiqing, tell me, how to deal with this matter." Zhu Youzhen expressed his agreement and asked about the handling method.
Wechen suggested...... Remove Li Menghui from the post of president of the Military Academy! Qian Qianyi said.
The only way he can think of is to remove him, and he was the first to propose the revocation of Li Hongfei's military power, and now he wants to repeat the old trick.
"Dismissal? On what grounds is the dismissal? Zhu Youzhen asked rhetorically.
Li Hongfei was in charge of the Military Academy, which Zhu Youzhen personally agreed, and the post of president of the Military Academy does not have much real power, so it is basically difficult to talk about dereliction of duty, and it is simply impossible to remove him from his post.
"That'..... How about arranging him in another position and transferring him out of the military academy? Qian Qianyi said again.
"Impossible, with Li Menghui's current status, once he leaves the Military Academy, there is basically no place to arrange among the six departments, if he really wants to arrange it, then there is only the cabinet, and he will be in charge of the cabinet at such a young age, who can be convinced by the hundred officials in the DPRK and China?" Without waiting for Zhu Youzhen to speak, Gao Hongtu took the lead in objecting.
What kind of joke is it to let the other party enter the cabinet, isn't this digging a hole for yourself?
Zhu Youzhen did not speak, he also understood that Li Menghui must not be allowed to enter the cabinet, otherwise with his current relationship with Li Menghui, it will not be long before the entire decision-making power of the Ming Dynasty will be taken away by the other party.
The monarchs of the Ming Dynasty have completely delegated power, and there is more than one, but this is not what Zhu Youzhen wants, what he wants is absolute control of power, otherwise he will not take the initiative to "turn face" with Li Hongfei.
Seeing that the imperial study suddenly quieted down, at this time, Wang Chengen, who was standing on the side, finally couldn't help but speak: "Saint, the status of the master of the horse in the army is quite high, and it stands to reason that he does meet the conditions for entering the cabinet, but this is the way of the official, it is not as good as going into battle to kill the enemy, and let the master of the horse enter the cabinet, I am afraid it is really incompetent." ”
Compared with Zhu Youzhen, Wang Chengen is the real old fox, who can run the East Factory without being overthrown by major forces, which shows the cleverness of his political methods.
On the surface, he was worried that Li Hongfei would not be able to play after entering the cabinet, but he was actually telling Zhu Youzhen where Li Hongfei's weakness was.
The cabinet is basically controlled by the civilian clique, and if Li Hongfei enters the cabinet, the influence in the army will naturally be weakened, and in this more complicated political struggle, it is difficult to say whether Li Hongfei can gain a firm foothold, and where will he get the energy to fight with Zhu Youzhen?
And what Zhu Youzhen needs is time, just wait for the victory of the Northern Expedition and completely stabilize the situation in the whole country, and he will be able to free up his hands to deal with Li Hongfei.
Before that, it was the best choice to let the Donglin Party members and Li Hongfei consume first, so that they had no chance to develop steadily.
seemed to have thought for a long time, and then Zhu Youzhen said to Gao Hongtu: "Lu Daqi, a scholar of Jianji Hall University, is now old and sick in bed, and has resigned several times. I was suffering from the lack of suitable candidates, so I could only delay it again and again, and now I took this opportunity to let Li Menghui take over his position. Although Menghui is still relatively young, but being young has the advantage of being young, dare to break old habits, be open and innovative, Gao Aiqing, you will have to cooperate more in the future, don't bully him because Menghui is young, after all, he is my son-in-law! ”
Zhu Youzhen is a master of playing with power, and from beginning to end, he has never shown his disgust with Li Hongfei, and even took the initiative to excuse him, and seems to trust the other party very much.
However, all the people present understood it, and they could naturally understand a deeper meaning from Zhu Youzhen's words..........