As early as the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Chongzhen discussed moving south with Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the cabinet at that time, but the privileged class in the capital did not agree, so they tried every means to make the emperor stumble.

These people have servants in the capital and have been operating in the capital and Zuojin for more than ten generations, where must they give up the glory and wealth of the servants and leave? So they bribed Zhou Kui, the abbot of the country, and informed Empress Zhang in the palace to prevent the move south on the grounds that 'the tomb of the temple is here'.

But Chongzhen still did Zhuo Bei, and ordered the noble Zhao Zhilong to do the Nanjing garrison, so that the Nanjing Military Department Shangshu Shi Kefa cleaned up the Nanjing armament, quickly trained the soldiers and horses, and served the city Rui Brigade to consolidate the foundation.

Last year, the governor of Tianjin was appointed to dredge the sea lanes and prepare sea vessels in case of contingencies.

Even at the beginning of this year, the emperor still secretly discussed with the courtiers about moving south, from the route, reception, funds, etc., and at that time also set the strategy of the prince raising the army in Nanjing, Chongzhen staying in the capital, guarding China, guarding the people, and guarding the mausoleum.

It's just that the privileged class in the capital still stopped it, and arranged for the military department to tell the story of Lingwu in the matter, forcing Chongzhen to make a strategy of the Son of Heaven guarding the country and the king dying in Sheji.

There are many reasons why the imperial court is reluctant to move south, Xungui, Jingying and many officials have assets in the capital, and they are easily unwilling to give up, and when they know that the situation is critical, it is difficult to move the capital.

At that time, the relocation of the capital, to relocate the privileged class of the entire capital, was huge, and it was difficult for both the internal capital and the household department to support it. There are even more sanctimonious, and the scholars who can only talk empty talk stop them on the grounds of social and mausoleum, they occupy the moral high ground, and no one dares to oppose them in the political environment of the Ming Dynasty.

At the end of Chongzhen, Emperor Rao was repeatedly changed and reorganized the cabinet, and there was no more courageous person to pick up the burden.

For example, Qian Qianyi opposed the crown prince Nanjing Fujun and insisted that the emperor move the capital, just to let Shen Youlong pick up this burden. In this way, the relocation of the capital was successful, Shen Youlong must not have a good end, the lesson of the previous car is Chen Xinjia, ordered by Chongzhen to negotiate peace with the Manchu Qing, after the matter was leaked, he was immediately abandoned by Chongzhen, the emperor in order to avoid taking responsibility, killed Chen Xinjia to thank the world, and succeeded the cabinet members, and no longer dared to do things honestly.

The atmosphere in the private room was a little weird for a while, Shen Youlong didn't want to tear his face with everyone, and Qian Qianyi also regretted that he was too impatient just now.

At this time, an old man smiled and said: "Everyone, today only the general outline, whether the Son of Heaven moves south, or the crown prince Fujun, it is not something we can decide, it must be determined by the Son of Heaven." ”

This old man is the guest of honor at today's banquet, Shen Tingyang, known as Wumei Gong.

Unlike everyone present who is a Jiangnan scholar and a famous Confucian, Shen Tingyang was born in Guozijian, so in the future, when the court moves south, he is not even a jinshi, and he can't compete for any big officials in the court, but here, he is indeed the strongest, whether it is the king of Qinwang in the north or the south, he is inseparable from him.

In the middle and late Chongzhen period, the Beijing-Hangzhou Caoyun market was cut off by Liukou and Jiannu, so Shen Tingyang opened the sea to supply Gyeonggi with Jiangnan grain when the Caoyun was interrupted.

Unlike other people's strategies, which require the imperial court to allocate funds, Shen Tingyang did not ask the imperial court for a penny, but only asked the emperor for a favor, that is, on the sea ships that transported grain for the imperial court, set aside thirty percent of the space to load commercial goods, and the imperial court did not collect taxes.

Chongzhen was very happy, agreed to his trial shipping, the result from Huai'an to the sea, the sea ship arrived in Tianjin in ten days, to Chongzhen sixteen years, Shen Tingyang is to have more than 100 large sand ships, and the Jiangnan shipping force is also headed by it, known as the sand boat gang.

At this time, Shen Tingyang was the secretary of the Guozijian and was responsible for the supply of military materials in the north.

When Shen Youlong decided to go north by sea, he thought of asking this clan brother to help, just Shen Tingyang's family had the ability to transport 200,000 grains and rice to the north every year, and the transportation capacity was so strong that the Oriental Trading Company could not compare.

With Shen Tingyang playing a round, Qian Qianyi and Shen Youlong gave up the fight and began to discuss the details of the southward move.

Everyone present needs to keep this matter secret, the purpose is to reduce the difficulty of moving the capital, according to the results of everyone's consultation, everyone present first signed a note, advocating Chongzhen to move south, but Shen Youlong arrived in Gyeonggi, not to take it out for the time being, but depending on the situation.

If the situation is not urgent, it will not be submitted, and when the situation is urgent, it will be submitted.

And the so-called emergency situation, everyone set a standard, that is, the thieves attacked the capital, or the main force of the eastern captives entered the customs, so that both situations can be submitted.

The most important thing is that even if it is submitted to the recital, it is done in secret, that is to say, even if the capital is moved, that is, the Zhu Ming royal family is brought to Nanjing, as for those old and weak Beijing camps, noble civil officials, they don't care about it, if these people also go to Nanjing, wouldn't it make the Jiangnan celebrities at this time have no official positions?

Some people even hinted that when necessary, Shen Youlong should make up his mind to snatch the emperor or prince out and keep the orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty.

Obviously, from beginning to end, this proposal to move the capital is full of a taste of party strife, where is the relocation of the capital of the Ming Dynasty, this is the reorganization of the court, as long as it is successful, the participants are all chickens and dogs ascending to heaven.

Zhao Wenji listened on the sidelines, his heart was mixed, he felt that this move to the capital may not be a good option, but the implied taste of party struggle is not what he likes, even Shen Youlong, who is known for his loyalty and hard work, is not exempt from vulgarity, and he wants to use this power to become the next first assistant minister of the Ming Dynasty.

And if it is successful, the future Nanjing court will be the dominant family of the Donglin Party, Zhao Wenji does not know where the world will go, he only feels that he is not on the right path of the king, and the future of the Ming Dynasty is uncertain.

The more Zhao Wenji thought about it, the more sad he became, and after leaving Dongjiang Pavilion, he carried a pot of wine and staggered down the lively street.

Songjiang is prosperous, the lights are on at night, it is still a city that never sleeps, thinking that the north has become a white land, starving all over the field, Zhao Wenji felt that the world was unfair, a stumble, he fell to the ground, the wine jug broke, and he was embarrassed.

"Mr. Zhao, why are you torturing yourself so much?" A familiar voice appeared behind Zhao Wenji and helped him up, it was Li Zhaoji.

Zhao Wenji's eyes were red, and he said, "Li Zhaoji...... You guessed it all right, they just want to move the capital, seize power, and usurp the Ming ......... ”

Li Zhaoji smiled: "What other good thing can this group of people get together?" If you have heard it and seen it, you should let it go and forget it, just like when you were in Ryukyu, you should do something that you should do and can do. ”

"What can I do? I just want to go into seclusion now, and I don't want to ask about the world anymore. At this time, there are too many pickled things, too much. Zhao Wenji was already disappointed to the extreme.

Li Zhaoji said: "Sir, can you tell me what else they talked about besides talking about moving the capital?" ”

"What, what else can we talk about?" Zhao Wenji was puzzled.

Li Zhaoji said directly: "Have you talked about the establishment of a new king?" ”

"Dare!" Zhao Wenji felt like he had eaten explosives for a while, and he threw his hand above his head: "The Son of Heaven is alive, who dares to stand alone?" ”

Li Zhaoji nodded slightly, he waited outside the Dongjiang Pavilion for a long time, it was for this purpose, and after knowing it, he was very satisfied.

As he guessed, even the Jiangnan scholars knew that the situation in the north was out of control, and they never imagined that Emperor Chongzhen would hang himself on the coal mountain so quickly.

"Zhaoji, did you guess something again?" Zhao Wenji asked.

Li Zhaoji smiled and waved his hand again and again: "I'm not an immortal, how can I guess so much?" When Mr. said about retreat just now, he was determined to do so, but he was just talking. ”

"What do you say?" Zhao Wenji asked.

Li Zhaoji said: "In my opinion, although Lord Shen is not as talented as Shaobao, he is loyal and reliable, even if he cooperates with shameless people like Qian Muzhai, most of them are for the sake of Daming.

Even if he is chasing fame and fortune, it is better for him to be the first assistant than others to do it. Mr. Shen will assist Lord Shen in the future, and he can also use his authority to realize his ambitions, if he returns to seclusion, he can no longer help the world, and can only be alone. ”

"I thought you were going to ask me to do something in your company." Zhao Wenji slumped on the ground and said lightly.

Li Zhaoji laughed a few times: "How can I be, how dare I ask for help from a great talent like Mr.?" ”

Zhao Wenji looked at Li Zhaoji's eyes and said, "Your plan is not small, don't think that no one knows, Lord Shen and I both know." For example, this time, you led the Eastern Brigade into the King of Weiqin, and you were more active than General Chen Ping and Daming, why is this, the two of us can't figure it out. ”

"I just want to win the name of righteousness, I have always said that I want to help the north, and at the beginning I set the enemy on the eastern captives, and it was the thieves who marched into the capital to change it to King Qin. But what about Queen Qin? Whether it is to defend the capital or move the capital to Nanjing, it is inevitable to fight with the Dongyu.

Our army will be able to attack Liaodong, and I will use all the resources of the trading company to form a brigade of elite soldiers.

Everything in the world, only the army is Pixiu, no matter how much gold and silver is swallowed, it will not produce a trace of profit, and if you want to return to your capital, you can only rob.

Only by grabbing the east, not only what you have gained, but also to win the name of righteousness, wouldn't you have the best of both worlds? Li Zhaoji said with a smile.

Zhao Wenji reminded: "Zhaoji, the eastern captives started outside the Guan, the imperial court has been helpless for decades, but let it become bigger, its soldiers will inevitably be fine, its army will inevitably be strong, your brigade of new troops, but it may not be an opponent, rash strategy, is tantamount to sheep into the mouth of the tiger." ”

Li Zhaoji smiled and said: "Dongyu is fierce and resistant to war, so it is naturally not easy to fight, but the dynasty is rarely a slave of Dongyu, the people are rich but the military is weak, for me, it is a big fat sheep." ”

Zhao Wenji shook his head: "It's this kind of thing again, it sounds full of truth, but when it is implemented, it is oblique." When you advocated the establishment of group training in Guangdong, we just thought that you were going to exterminate the four surnames and replace them, but now?

You contact the gentry and are self-contained, even Lord Shen can't help you.

Forget it, I don't guess, I'm just a mediocre person, and I can only do something practical for the people within my ability. But you are different, you have high ambitions and great talents, maybe you can make a greater achievement. ”

"Yes, then thank you for your good words, if there is really that day, sir, please change the court and assist me in achieving great things." Li Zhaoji laughed and turned to leave.

Zhao Wenji looked at Li Zhaoji's dashing back and left, shook his head slightly, and said to himself: "In the world of great contention, there will be demons, Li Zhaoji, are you the demon?" ”

"Mr. Zhao, Mr. Zhao, why are you here?" Songbao picked up Zhao Wenji and said, "Master, please go, we will look for you everywhere." ”

When he arrived in Shen Youlong's study, Shen Youlong asked, "Mr. Zhao, you don't seem to be in good spirits." ”

"Today's secret discussion, can be a complete strategy, if the king of Dong Weng succeeds, then he will inevitably enter the cabinet for the minister, if he retreats to the second, move the capital to Nanjing, there will also be a meritorious service, and it is inevitable to be in charge of the cabinet. Thinking of this, the student was happy and drank a few more glasses. Zhao Wenji said.

Shen Youlong sighed and said: "The proposal to move the capital is also a strategy, in order to let the Jiangnan gentry increase taxes so that they can be used by King Qin's army." The first assistant is not the first assistant, but the old man is not extravagant. ”