Jun Shengnan was demoted by the imperial court, and the original Minister of Finance will be the Young Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, which is equivalent to a two-level demote, and he is no longer qualified to discuss politics in the court. The Jun family's response soon followed.

The first to have an accident was the Ministry of Commerce, and the Textile Division under the Ministry of Commerce lost more than 100,000 pieces of silver at once.

Whether it is Ningnan or Fengguo, the cloth produced by the official workshop is not sold to the people first, but first wholesaled to the merchants who specialize in cloth, and then sold by the merchants to the people.

The difference between the two places is that when the merchants of the Fengguo country buy from the official fang, they have to take out the silver, first buy the cloth into their own hands, and then sell it to the outside.

Ningnan is different, the Ningnan court does have many policies that are more humane than the Wind Country.

Merchants in Ningnan do not need to give silver first, they only need to make a white slip to prove how much goods they have bought from the official shop, and then they can take the cloth from the official shop and sell it outside.

If the cloth selected by the merchant does not sell well and fails to sell, it does not matter, and it can be returned to the official workshop in the end, and this part of the cost of the official workshop will be deducted from the white bar.

Here in Ningnan, the businessmen who do business with the imperial court officials are basically sure to make money and do not lose money, and the collective name of this part of the businessmen is called the official businessmen, which is the most eye-catching group of businessmen.

The Ningnan Imperial Court has always implemented such a policy, and after the death of Ningnan, the Governor's Office also inherited this policy. There had never been an accident before, but after Jun Shengnan stepped down, something happened to the Textile Division.

Several big officials and businessmen who had cooperated with the Textile Department for many years took away a large amount of cloth from the official shop, and suddenly disappeared with their families, and no one was alive or dead.

The evaporation of these merchants also turned the white slip they gave to the official shop into a piece of waste paper, and the official shop couldn't find anyone to ask for silver or cloth back.

The total amount of silver they owed to the officials amounted to 150,000 taels.

In the past, there had never been a problem with the implementation of this preferential policy, but Jun Shengnan had just stepped down, and such a thing happened, and several officials and businessmen disappeared mysteriously together, to say that it has nothing to do with the Jun family, no one will believe it.

The deficit of 150,000 taels of silver is nothing to the Governor's Palace, but this is just the beginning.

In the nine counties in the eastern part of Ningnan, a total of more than 20 cities, restaurants and taverns in the city closed down without warning, and this was not the end, and the trend of closure quickly spread to other industries.

For a time, so many counties, so many cities, merchants closed down one after another, shops closed one after another, and the loss of tax revenue to the governor's palace was secondary, and the dissatisfaction of the people everywhere was the most troublesome.

Most of the people, no matter whether the emperor is surnamed Tang or the eldest grandson, as long as they can eat their stomachs and let them live and work in peace and contentment, most of the people will not rise up to resist, and they will not pin the head of the whole family to their trouser belt to be a rebel against the party.

But now the merchants have closed down one after another, causing great inconvenience to the daily life of the people, especially the closure of the grain store, which has been directly related to the livelihood of the people in the city.

This is the energy of the Jun family in Ningnan, it can make the Ningnan area smell like a rock, but in the same way, it can also toss the Ningnan area upside down.

For this series of events that have occurred recently, the Imperial Court of the Wind Country is also urgently negotiating. In the court, the ministers led by Cai Xiao and Zhang Jiuwei are all hardliners with a resolute attitude, and they have always believed that the court must not compromise with the Jun family.

If the imperial court chooses to compromise this time, then in the future, the Jun family will do the same, make trouble to the imperial court in everything, and force the imperial court to make compromises in everything, so is the Ningnan region under the Fengguo surnamed Tang or surnamed Jun?

A group of ministers headed by Tang Mingzhu, the Minister of Parliament, and Lin Yi, the newly appointed Minister of Households, were doves. Their opinion is that the temporary compromise with the Jun family is not equal to the Jun family that the court is really afraid of, and what the court lacks most now is time.

After the imperial court has gained a firm foothold in Ningnan and is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, the people in Ningnan will no longer be easily provoked, and the Jun family will naturally become a fish and meat under the sword.

Hard-line ministers and dovish ministers are not monolithic. Although Zhang Jiuwei and Cai Xiao advocate the same and advance and retreat together in the court, the former is an unwavering follower of Shangguan Xiu.

As for Lin Yi, a representative of the doves, he and Shangguan Xiu don't have much one heart and one mind, and all his ideas are based on the benefits of the Ningnan region and the people of Ningnan.

This is the current situation of the Feng Country court, on the surface, it is very clear, that is, the Feng Clan ministers and the Ningnan Clan ministers. And if you dig deeper into it, you will find that it is a mess.

There are factions among the ministers of the Feng clan, and there are also factions among the ministers of the Ningnan clan, Zhang Jiuwei and Lin Yi are two rivals.

When political views are different and contradictions intensify, racial differentiation comes to naught, and the ministers of the Feng clan and the minister of the Ningnan clan can also put aside each other's prejudices, choose to stand together, and jointly adhere to their political views in the court.

One group of ministers insisted on being tough on the Jun family, killing chickens and monkeys, knocking on the mountains and shaking the tigers, while the other group of ministers believed that the overall situation should be the most important, temporarily compromise with the Jun family, and stabilize the current tense situation, and now the real test is Tang Ling's wisdom.

In terms of heart, Tang Ling is more inclined to Cai Xiao and Zhang Jiuwei, however, she also has concerns in her heart, what if after the strangulation of the Jun family, the situation in Ningnan is not only not alleviated, but aggravated?

Once rebellions broke out in various places, the imperial court sent troops to quell the rebellion, and formed a blood feud with the people of Ningnan, in the future, the imperial court wanted to govern the Ningnan region and resolve the hatred of the people of Ningnan against the court, but it was too difficult.

In the court, Tang Ling couldn't help but rub his forehead, and asked casually, "Today's Guogong will go to court in the future?"

Han Duo, the deputy envoy of the military department, stepped out of the ranks and said, "Back to Your Majesty, Your Highness and Lord Luo are both in the military department, and they are urgently discussing the military situation at the front. ”

The arrival of Tang Ling and the Fengguo Imperial Court can be regarded as rescuing Shangguan Xiu from the mountains of government affairs, and now his main energy has been shifted to the war on the front line.

For the war of the eldest grandson Huai'an, the Feng army occupies the absolute initiative, whether it is troops, weapons and equipment, food, grass and ammunition, the wind army has an overwhelming advantage.

On the front-line battlefield, the Feng army also marched forward and defeated the resistance army under the command of the eldest grandson Huai'an.

However, news came back from the front line, saying that the eldest grandson Huai'an was colluding with the Western Alliance, and wanted to introduce the forces of the Western Alliance into the western border of Ningnan to block the wind army.

Of course, the introduction of Western Alliance forces into the territory of Ningnan is tantamount to luring wolves into the house, and the Western Allied forces must occupy wherever they want, and it is impossible to retreat again.

Under such circumstances, Shangguan Xiu had to be nervous about the battle on the front line.

Shangguan Xiu was not in the court, Tang Ling became more and more upset, and said: "Today's court discussion, that's it, the rest of the matter, tomorrow will be discussed." ”

Cai Xiao bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, the Jun family is secretly making trouble, wanting to coerce the court and forcing the palace Your Majesty, it is really bold and reckless, Your Majesty, don't hesitate anymore, when the Jun family is completely cut off." ”

As soon as his words fell, Zhang Jiuwei followed closely and said: "Your Majesty, the precedent of the imperial court being controlled by others must not be opened, Weichen suggests that the head of the Jun family, Jun Shengtian, should be sentenced to capital punishment to set an example, if the Jun family still does not repent and secretly obstructs, Your Majesty should cut the grass and eradicate the roots of the Jun family, and leave no one." ”

"Your Majesty, what Lord Cai and Lord Zhang said, it is difficult for Weichen to agree. Lin Yi came out and said: "The Jun family is in the Ningnan area, it is a century-old family, the prestige is high, and people can match it, if Your Majesty insists on eradicating the Jun family, it will only make the people in Ningnan more and more hate the court and dislike the court, which is harmful to the court and not beneficial to Your Majesty!"

It's like this again, and it's each with its own reasoning, Tang Ling is really a little fed up, she was just about to speak, Tang Mingzhu came out and said, "Your Majesty, Weichen has something to do." ”

Tang Ling glanced at Tang Mingzhu and asked impatiently, "Your opinion still can't kill the Jun family?" Tang Ling never liked this cousin, not before, and not now, but Tang Mingzhu was very methodical and grabbed Shangguan Xiu, which made Tang Ling a little helpless to take her.

Tang Mingzhu said: "Your Majesty, Weichen has a plan, which may be able to solve the current dilemma." ”

"Oh?" Tang Ling's eyes flashed. The ministers in the court all warned her that she couldn't do this, she couldn't do that, but Tang Mingzhu was the first to propose specific solutions to her.

Tang Ling's face softened a little, and he asked softly, "What is Zhu'er's good plan, let's talk about it in detail, let me hear it." ”

Tang Mingzhu said: "Your Majesty has visited Tianjing in person, and it has been almost a month, but the wealthy scholars of Tianjing have not even seen His Majesty's face, which is a bit too much, Weichen thinks that His Majesty should hold a banquet in the palace and invite the patriarchs of the scholars in Tianjing." ”

Tang Ling frowned slightly, and said, "With just one meal, can the contradiction between the Jun family and the imperial court be resolved? Can the Jun family not go against the imperial court? This is the good strategy that Zhu'er gave me?"

Tang Mingzhu smiled and said: "A meal, of course, will not change anything, but Your Majesty can force Jun Shengtian to make a statement in public during the meal, whether he wants to be an enemy of the court or a friend of the court, if Jun Shengtian chooses the latter, in front of so many patriarchs of the Shi clan, it is impossible for Jun Shengtian to go back on his word, and the Jun family will never dare to continue to oppose the court in the future." ”

Tang Ling's eyes lit up, this is a good way, the higher the prestige, the more he will cherish his wings, the more he will do what he says, if he goes back on his word, the Jun family will lose his morality and prestige first, no matter how the court disposes of the Jun family, the people of Ningnan will not have any dissatisfaction.

She said thoughtfully: "What if Jun Shengtian expresses his position in public, and the Jun family refuses to be friends with the court and insists on fighting against the court to the end?"

"Then Your Majesty can kill him as a matter of course. With such a big rebellious statement, it is not an exaggeration to kill the head. His Majesty's killing of Jun Shengtian was just for example, mainly for the patriarchs of the scholar clan present. The reason why the Jun family can turn the rain and clouds in the Ningnan area is because the other scholars are looking at the Jun family, as long as they can force the other scholars to stand on the side of the court, only the Jun family is left, so it is not a matter of concern. Tang Mingzhu said confidently.

In Tang Ling's impression, this was the first time Tang Mingzhu had said so many words in the court. In the past, she was like a transparent person in the court, even if something was asked to her, her answer was only a few words, but this time, Tang Ling finally understood why Shangguan Xiu admired Tang Mingzhu and why he pushed her to the throne of the Minister of Parliament. Tang Mingzhu's real talent is far more profound than what she has shown.

Tang Ling took a deep breath, looked around at the ministers present, and asked, "What do you Aiqing think?"

The ministers looked at each other. Cai Xiao was the first to come back to his senses, bowed down and said, "Weichen seconded it." ”

Zhang Jiuwei immediately followed and said, "Weichen seconded the proposal. ”

After the two of them, a group of ministers bowed their hands one after another and said in unison: "Weichen seconded!"