Zhou Chong and Wang Shouren had a very pleasant conversation, both of them have their own views on the construction of the military academy, of which Zhou Chong has some ready-made experience in later generations, and Wang Shouren is very familiar with the current military situation of the Ming Dynasty, so the two of them told what they knew, and soon formed a general idea of the military academy.

It wasn't until the evening that Zhou Zhong left Wang Shouren for dinner, and then personally sent the other party out of the governor's palace. However, after seeing off Wang Shouren and returning to the study, Zhou Zhong found that the elderly Jiao Fang was sitting on a chair waiting for him. Zhou Chong was not surprised by Jiao Fang's arrival, and even he had heard the report from the next person before, as soon as Wang Shouren arrived, Jiao Fang had already come, and when Zhou Chong was talking to Wang Shouren, Jiao Fang stood outside the window and listened to their conversation.

"Congratulations to you for getting another powerful assistant, with Wang Shouren's help, your lord's idea of my Ming Dynasty will be easier to realize!" When Jiao Fang saw Zhou Zhong coming in, he sat on the chair and arched his hand, he was old, so he didn't have to care about some vulgar etiquette, and even in front of the emperor, no one would blame him.

I saw Zhou Chongjin go into the study and find a place to sit down at random, and then said with a smile: "Brother Bo'an is indeed a very smart person, and he is also a very good assistant, but he is still a little too young, and his experience in officialdom is also a little insufficient. ”

Hearing Zhou Chong's words, Jiao Fang smiled, and then said with some sadness: "Adults really underestimate the old age." Although I don't like southerners. But the general trend is clear. The layout of the future of the Ming Dynasty is too huge, so large that this is not something that one or two people can complete at all, but it takes a group of talented people to work hard for it, although the old man is also very much to join the adult your team, but I am too old, so I can only help the adult to find some available talents on the side, this Wang Shouren has a calm personality, but he is clever and wise. Especially his achievements in Confucianism, even the old man is willing to lose, even if such a person is found in the entire Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid I can't find a few, now this person can really help the adult, the old man will only feel happy, and he will also carry more in the future, so please rest assured. ”

The reason why Jiao Fang showed some sadness was not because he told him not to embarrass Wang Shouren's words, but because he was sad for his age. After all, he was eighty years old, although he was still in good spirits. But God knows where Lu Dao will close his eyes and never wake up again, so although he knows that Lu Dao Zhou has a profound impact on the layout of Da Ming, and at the same time, he also needs a lot of people to participate, but he has no time.

Zhou Zhong also understood Jiao Fang's thoughts very well, and he also sighed at the moment, and then comforted with a forced smile: "Jiao Ge Lao don't worry, although you are old, but you are old and strong, and now you are Zhou's indispensable and most important assistant, I believe that with your help, you can complete the layout of Nanyang in the shortest possible time, so that when writing this history in the future, you will not forget your merits no matter what, in addition, Brother Huang is also a talented person, and he is also doing a good job in Nanyang, In the future, I will definitely inherit the ambition of the elder and help me complete the future things! ”

Jiao Fang's son Jiao Huangzhong is also a talent, before because of Liu Jin's affairs, he gave up his position in the service and returned to his hometown with his father, so he escaped, and now he also came to the Governor's Mansion with Jiao Fang, but he took the initiative to ask to go to Nanyang to experience it, and now he serves as the county commander of a county under the rule of Jiugang, and after the term of office expires, Zhou Zhong also intends to transfer to his Governor's Mansion for reuse.

Hearing Zhou Zhong mention one of his most proud sons, Jiao Fang also turned his worries into joy, and no longer talked about business at the moment, but talked about the interesting stories in Nanyang mentioned in his son Jiao Huangzhong's letter to him, such as there is no need to burn a fire at noon, take an iron pot and put it in the sun, and you can cook eggs by beating it in, and in addition, elephants are used to plough the fields, etc., anyway, they are some customs and customs of Nanyang, which are very interesting in Jiao Fang's opinion, and even expressed the idea of wanting to go to Nanyang for a turn.

However, Zhou Chong didn't dare to agree with Jiao Fang's idea of going to Nanyang, after all, Jiao Fang's age is too old, and his body's ability to adapt to the environment is also declining, and he is a northerner, and he can't stand the hot weather the most.

In fact, Jiao Fang also knew that although his son's letter to himself was relaxed, but with the climate over there, I am afraid he also suffered a lot, so although Jiao Fang had a little yearning for Nanyang, he did not insist on going to Nanyang, after all, he was not Wang Shouren, and the other party could turn the land under the governor's mansion, but for him, this was an impossible task, so he only mentioned it and did not insist on going to Nanyang.

After chatting about private affairs, Zhou Chong discussed with Jiao Fang about moving the administrative office to Songjiang, and Jiao Fang also raised his hands in favor of this matter, he had already seen that Zhang Cai's proposal to move the administrative office to Taiwan had other intentions, so he did not agree, and he, like Wang Shouren, felt that the governor's mansion could not leave the Ming coast, otherwise it would definitely attract the suspicion of the imperial court, as for Songjiang Mansion, he was also the same as Zhou Chong, and felt that there was a lot to be done in that place.

As for the matter of the military academy, an old fox like Jiao Fang is naturally transparent at a glance, and even more far-reaching than Wang Shouren. However, instead of objecting, he also supported Zhou Chong's bold actions, especially the fact that he must ask His Majesty the Emperor to serve as the principal of the military academy, so as to silence everyone's mouths, and if necessary, he can even give up his old face and pull up a group of officials from the north to build momentum for the military academy.

Zhou Chong was a little puzzled at first about Jiao Fang's strong support for the military academy, but when he saw the hatred on Jiao Fang's face, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in his mind, and he finally understood the reason why Jiao Fang did this, in fact, to put it bluntly, it was the dispute between the north and the south in the officialdom.

As mentioned before, the dispute between the north and the south officials in the Ming officialdom has been going on for a long time, and in general, it has always been the southern officials who have the upper hand, for example, when Xiaozong was at the beginning, the three sages in the cabinet were Xie Qian, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang, but among the three, only Liu Jian is a northerner, Xie Qian and Li Dongyang are both southerners, and this is already a good situation for northern officials.

It is precisely because of this that the officials from the northerners in the officialdom are actually very disadvantaged, especially the southern officials are not only more numerically than them, but most of them are higher in positions, so the northern officials are often oppressed by the southern officials in the officialdom, and no good thing can be done to them, such as Jiao Fang, who was bullied by many southerners' bosses when he was young, which caused him to have a very hostile attitude towards the southern officials.

Later, Jiao Fang and Liu Jin, who is also a northerner, joined forces and seized the power of the court in one fell swoop, and Jiao Fang also became the first assistant of the cabinet, so in this case, the northern officials completely turned over, and Jiao Fang also took advantage of his position to suppress the southern officials, which finally made a bad breath for the northern officials, don't look at Jiao Fang's bad reputation in the officialdom now, but that is mainly because the southern officials slandered and slandered him, in fact, among the northern officials, Jiao Fang is known as a highly respected person.

But it's a pity that the northern officials represented by Jiao Fang did not turn over for too long, with the conflict between Jiao Fang and Liu Jin, Jiao Fang had to return to his hometown, and the southerner Li Dongyang took power again, and later Liu Jin died, making the court completely become a hall of southern officials, and now many northern officials who followed Jiao Fang were liquidated, and the southern officials in the court occupied various important positions, and the remaining few northern officials could only guard some Qingshui Yamen, and they did nothing at all, and they could go through this battle, The current northern officials have fallen to the bottom in officialdom.

In addition, what is even worse is that the current cabinet chief assistant Li Dongyang has selected Yang Tinghe, who is also from the south, as the successor of the first assistant, that is to say, after Li Dongyang retires, it is still the southern officials in the court who have the final say, and if the cabinet chief assistant is all southern officials in the future, it is simply hopeless for the northern officials.

After figuring out the current situation in the officialdom, coupled with his understanding of Jiao Fang, it is easy for Zhou Chong to guess the reason why he supports the military academy, which is nothing more than Jiao Fang seeing that the officialdom is now full of southern officials, which makes him indignant, although he is re-elected as an official in the Governor's Palace, it is impossible to return to the power center of the Ming Dynasty again.

Jiao Fang's personality is very good in other aspects, and he is very rational, but as long as it involves the dispute between the north and the south, he will become very extreme, for example, like the southerners now hold the power of the court, and in the next few decades, the northern officials may not have the possibility of turning over, so in Jiao Fang's view, since these northern officials cannot grasp the power of the court, then no one should think about it alone, it is better to let the military academy grow up, and then the generals will rise again and start a struggle for power with the civilian officials. It may even be possible for northern officials to benefit from this kind of contention.

It is precisely with the mentality that he can't get it and will never make the other party feel better, so Jiao Fang will be so active in supporting the construction of Zhou Chong's military academy, thinking of this, Zhou Chong couldn't help but smile bitterly, I didn't expect Jiao Fang to be eighty years old, but he is still so persistent in the dispute between the north and the south in the officialdom, it seems that if he returns to the capital publicly in the future, he should pay careful attention to this. (To be continued......)