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In the historical time and space that Zhao Junchen is familiar with, later generations once had a view that "Ming died in the Donglin Party".

This view is obviously too extreme, but it is undeniable that the Donglin Party did play a certain role in the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

And the Donglin Party is essentially the spokesperson of the court of the Hui merchants.

But don't look at the Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty in the limelight, it did not have the ability to resist the imperial power, was once Wei Zhongxian to rectify the powerless, only because Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne has been running wild on the road to death, all kinds of gods and goddesses under the operation of the Donglin Party gradually sitting.

In this historical time and space where Zhao Junchen is now, Emperor Chongzhen's political means are qualified, so not only is the Donglin Party not powerful, but the Hui merchants have also been severely suppressed, and they no longer dare to use their own financial resources to manipulate the court.

Until the advent of Zhao Junchen, the Hui merchants did not dare to look for a new spokesperson in the center of the temple, and for a time lost all political desire - of course, the same was true for the Jin merchants.

In Zhao Junchen's view, although the situation in the court cannot be manipulated by a group of businessmen hiding behind the scenes, it is also too much if the political desires of the Hui merchants and Jin merchants are suppressed too harshly.

If the Ming Dynasty wants to become strong again, it must gather all the forces that can be used, as the so-called "no agriculture, no work, no wealth, no business, no life", the power of merchants is also indispensable.

Now, seeing that the Hui businessmen have resumed their political ambitions again, Zhao Junchen is naturally a little relieved.

What's more, Zhao Junchen is still the only spokesperson for the interests of the Hui merchants in the center of the temple, and when they rekindle their political ambitions, their support for Zhao Junchen will increase again.

However, if the political ambitions of the Hui merchants are uncontrolled and swelling too quickly, it is a matter of vigilance.

For example, now, the Hui merchants want to annex some of the rights and responsibilities of the Caoyun Yamen, which is obviously a sign that their political ambitions are gradually getting out of control, and they have not thought about the difficulty and consequences of this matter at all!

After Shen Changmao's Cao boat smuggling case broke out, Emperor Deqing only dismissed Shen Changmao from his official position, but did not hold the Caoyun Yamen accountable at all, not only because the backstage of the Caoyun Yamen was Zhou Shangjing and Zhou Shangjing helped to get rid of the involvement, but also because the position of the Caoyun Yamen was too sensitive, which could be said to affect the whole body, even Emperor Deqing did not dare to easily let the Caoyun Yamen fall into turmoil.

The sensitivity of the Caoyun Yamen is mainly due to two parts, first of all, as Bai Mingyu said, the Caoyun Yamen is responsible for the grain and Caoyin, which is related to the national capital, and must not be moved lightly; Secondly, because the Caoyun Yamen still controls more than 150,000 Caogong, which is the food and clothing of the Caoyun workers, once the Caoyun Yamen is in chaos, more than 100,000 Caogong will also fall into chaos, and the situation will be out of control!

Zhou Shangjing's sphere of influence in the center of the temple is mainly concentrated in three parts - they are the Ministry of Officials, the Hanlin Academy, and the Caoyun Yamen!

Among them, the Yamen of the Ministry of Officials is the core of the "Zhou Party", the Hanlin Yuan provides a steady stream of reserve talents for the "Zhou Party", and the Caoyun Yamen is the source of wealth of the "Zhou Party".

Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing have never stopped fighting openly and secretly over the years, and they have repeatedly attacked the Yamen of the Ministry of Officials and the Hanlin Academy, but he has never touched the Caoyun Yamen, because Emperor Deqing understands the trickiness of the Caoyun Yamen in his heart.

Everyone knows that the disadvantages of the Caoyun Yamen are very heavy, but even the Deqing Emperor does not dare to touch it easily, and the Hui merchants want to annex part of the power of the Caoyun Yamen at this time, which is simply whimsical and demented due to greed!

Even if you don't talk about the sensitivities of the Caoyun Yamen, there is still a Zhou Shangjing standing behind it!

If the Caoyun Yamen is moved, it is equivalent to moving the financial resources of the "Zhou Party", and it will inevitably face Zhou Shangjing's full revenge, even Zhao Junchen may not be able to bear such consequences, he must think twice!

Zhao Junchen also has ambitions, but when he realizes his ambitions, he has to do what he can.

*

"It's too big to take a step."

After hearing the hints of several Hui merchant leaders, Zhao Junchen wanted to use this sentence to beat them on the spot.

However, Zhao Junchen is already a cabinet assistant minister with a distinguished status, so naturally he can't say such vulgar words at will, and he must also save some face for the Hui businessmen, and can't discourage their enthusiasm too much.

Therefore, after Zhao Junchen organized his language a little, he said slowly: "Zhou Shangjing's age...... It shouldn't last a few years, and I'll soon return to my hometown! According to the Honkaku, there is still room for further expansion of the strength of the 'United Ship Company', and for the time being, it is better to focus on accumulating strength. ”

Zhao Junchen's hint was obvious, he did not disagree with the ambitions of the Hui merchants, but all this would not be mentioned until Zhou Shangjing left the temple.

In short, compared with other factors, Zhao Junchen is still more afraid of Zhou Shangjing's reaction.

Hearing Zhao Junchen's words, Lin Yunpu, Bai Mingyu, and Dai Fengfu were all a little disappointed.

But they rushed to the capital this time to see Zhao Junchen, in addition to wanting to win Zhao Junchen's support to realize their ambitions, in fact, there is also a "competition for favor" meaning, seeing that the relationship between Zhao Junchen and the Jin merchants is getting closer and closer, the Hui merchants are inevitably worried that Zhao Junchen's future position will be biased towards the Jin merchants, so they rushed to the capital to consolidate relations with Zhao Junchen.

Therefore, Lin Yunpu and the others were disappointed in their hearts, but they didn't dare to persecute Zhao Junchen, not to mention that Zhao Junchen's statement left some room after all, and did not cut off their thoughts, so they couldn't say anything.

So, Lin Yunpu quickly lowered his head and said: "It's still Zhao Gechen who is thoughtful, it's me who is too anxious." ”

When he spoke, Lin Yunpu's attitude was a little depressed, and Dai Fengfu and Bai Mingyu were also a little silent.

Thinking that he had rejected the two requests of the Hui merchants in a row, it would inevitably discourage their enthusiasm, and he also needed to try to make up for one or two, so Zhao Junchen thought about it for a while, and then spoke: "However, if you still have spare strength in addition to expanding the 'United Ship Line', I have something I want to hand over to you here, and if it is done well, the benefits will not be low." ”

Lin Yunpu's eyes lit up, he knew Zhao Junchen's business methods very well, if Zhao Junchen said that it was a business with a lot of income, it must be a big business that made people blush, and hurriedly asked, "Oh?" But I don't know what it is. Please also ask Zhao Gechen to give advice, and we will definitely try our best to do it. ”

Zhao Junchen first explained to them the agreement reached between the imperial court and the Jianzhou Jurchens, and then said: "The land south of the Yangtze River where the Hui merchants are located is the most prosperous place in the territory of our dynasty, and it is also the place where the culture gathers...... I want to hand over to you some of the business after the imperial court and the Jianzhou Jurchen exchange market. ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen's statement, several Hui business leaders were all happy, thinking that this was indeed a very good business.

Bai Mingyu hurriedly reassured: "Please rest assured that Zhao Gechen will definitely handle this matter!" After the imperial court and the Jianzhou Jurchens opened a mutual market, whether it was grain, livestock, or cloth, as long as the Jianzhou Jurchens could come up with enough benefits, we Hui merchants could satisfy them. ”

Lin Yunpu and Dai Fengfu also nodded again and again, very confident in this matter.

However, these three people obviously did not understand Zhao Junchen's deep meaning.

So, Zhao Junchen had no choice but to shake his head lightly and explain again: "Grain, livestock, cloth, etc., don't need to care too much...... I mainly want you to collect some extravagant things that are unique to Jiangnan, and when the caravans of our dynasty can enter the sphere of influence of the Jianzhou Jurchens, I will spread these things to the Jianzhou Jurchens by the way, so that they can feel the charm of the Central Plains culture.

If I can, I will also be not far from the Jianzhou Jurchen's sphere of influence, a special circle of land, operating gambling houses, green buildings, taverns, theaters and other businesses, focusing on receiving Jianzhou Jurchen guests, so that the Jianzhou Jurchen military and civilians are addicted to it and cannot extricate themselves, not only can take the opportunity to buy some important people, but also can more quickly harvest the Jianzhou Jurchen's civilian financial resources, this kind of thing is what you are good at, and it is easy to find many relevant talents, so it can be handed over to you to do. ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen's words, several Hui merchant leaders understood a little - using the luxury of Jiangnan and degrading the officials of the imperial court was indeed one of their good methods, and Zhao Junchen now wanted to use their means to degenerate all the soldiers and civilians of the Jianzhou Jurchens...... It's an amazing plan.

Of course, the use of wine and wealth means, it is indeed possible to harvest the savings of the people more quickly, although the initial investment is a lot, but the speed of capital return is also fast, that is, if there is a policy change on the Jurchen side of Jianzhou, there will be a risk of losing money in the early stage.

Therefore, they did not agree to Zhao Junchen immediately, but quietly discussed the pros and cons of this business with each other.

In fact, with Xuan Ye's clever vision, Zhao Junchen thinks that he must have seen through his anti-infiltration plan, but he will only prevent Zhao Junchen from bribing the civil and military officials of the Jianzhou Jurchen and installing internal responses within the sphere of influence of the Jianzhou Jurchens...... And this plan is Zhao Junchen's real bottom salary.

Of course, if Xuan Ye really had a vision beyond the times, and was alert to Zhao Junchen's true plan in time, and strictly forbade the military and civilians of Jianzhou Jurchen to contact the degenerate trap laid by Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen's plan might indeed lose a lot, so Zhao Junchen also understood the concerns of several Hui merchant leaders, and did not urge immediately, but just quietly waited for their response.

In the end, several Hui businessmen finally finished the discussion, and Bai Mingyu took the lead in saying: "Although this plan has a lot of benefits and the risks are not low, we have always trusted Zhao Gechen, and since it is Zhao Gechen's proposal, we naturally want to act together." ”

Hearing the response of the Hui businessmen, Zhao Junchen's expression was very satisfied, thinking that the participation of the Hui businessmen could speed up the progress of his plan a lot.

However, Zhao Junchen was still not satisfied, thinking that his plan still had something to add.

After thanking several Hui merchant leaders for their support, Zhao Junchen asked again: "Over the years, there has been very little grain cultivation in all parts of the south of the Yangtze River, but more cotton, vegetables, herbs, and flowers with higher value have been planted...... I want to ask you, do you know of a flower called Broken Intestine Grass? Oh yes, and it also has another name called poppy. ”

The poppy has been introduced into the Chinese sphere of influence since the Six Dynasties, and in the Tang Dynasty, it was also imported from abroad as a tribute, but the Han people have not found some special effects of this plant, and only use it as a medicinal herb and precious flower.

And Zhao Junchen's side now happens to have Zhang Decheng and Wen Caining, two medical masters, maybe they can use poppies to make medicine, and try to discover some uses of the broken intestine grass.

Several Hui businessmen didn't understand why Zhao Junchen would ask such a trivial matter, and they all looked at each other for a moment.

In the end, Dai Fengfu had a business of herbs and flowers, but he knew some of the situation, and replied: "I have heard the name of this kind of flower and plant, it is not only a medicinal material, but also a precious and rare flower and famous tree, red like fire, extremely good-looking, Wang Shimao of the previous dynasty in the "Hua Shu" had praised it, saying that 'after the peony, the poppy is the most prosperous, and it is planted with meaning, and it is good to be in a thousand states'; The warbler corn is red, the thousand leaves are clustered, the flowers are very huge and dense, and the abundance does not reduce the elixir', but this kind of flowers and plants are relatively rare, and I remember that only Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi and other places have been planted. ”

Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "After you go back, let people collect more of this kind of flowers and seeds, all kinds of varieties must be involved, at least enough to plant a thousand acres of land, and after collecting, they will be sent to me as soon as possible...... I'm of great use. ”

When he made a statement, Zhao Junchen had a sense of absurdity, and he didn't know whether he had accelerated the historical process or reproduced history.

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Something, I came home late, so there is only a small chapter today, forgive me.

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