……

……

So far, Emperor Deqing's plan for a southern tour has had occasional twists and turns, but overall it has been smooth and smooth. （）【】

But at the same time, the officialdom situation in the center of the capital has gradually become somewhat chaotic.

And that's to be expected.

The Manchu dynasty is up and down, and there are no more than two people who have the ability to control the overall situation, one is Emperor Deqing, and the other is the first assistant Zhou Shangjing.

Now, Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing are both gone, and no one in the capital can control the overall situation - whether it is Zhu Heyu, the crown prince of the supervising state, or Huang Yourong, the elder of the cabinet, who is an auxiliary government, they are deficient in prestige, experience, means, strategy, etc., and they are all unwilling to be lonely.

As a result, it is inevitable that there will be some chaos in the situation in the capital.

*

This kind of confusion is mainly reflected in the intensification of the situation in which the various parties in the DPRK and China are tilting against each other!

After Emperor Deqing left Beizhili, Huang Yourong in order to take revenge on Zhao Junchen, he couldn't bear it at first, and couldn't wait to ignite the conflict between the "Zhao Party" and the "Yellow Party" again.

For this situation, the prince's party naturally liked to hear about it, and even abandoned its past prejudices and joined forces with the "Yellow Party" to suppress Zhao Junchen's factional forces.

For a time, the officials of the "Zhao Party" in the capital were all unbearable, and everyone was more or less impeached and punished, among them, Gu Quan, the right man of the Imperial Procuratorate, and Liu Changan, the servant of the Ministry of Officials, were even removed from their official positions, and Zhan Shanchang, the head of the household department, was also ordered to suspend his post for reflection.

It can be said that this was the most unfortunate period since the establishment of the "Zhao Party", and many Zhao Party officials abandoned their original positions and turned to other factions because they could not withstand the pressure and panic, and also in order to protect themselves.

Of course. This situation was originally expected by Zhao Junchen, but Zhao Junchen did not prepare too many response plans!

Because, in Zhao Junchen's eyes, Huang Yourong and Zhu Heyu joined forces to suppress this time. As far as the "Zhao Party" is concerned, it is not an opportunity to temper itself, and it can take the opportunity to squeeze out some officials who do not have a firm stance and have a bad heart, so that when Zhao Junchen reforms the "Zhao Party" in the future, he will also reduce a lot of resistance.

Moreover. According to Zhao Junchen's conjecture, this situation will not last long, because the crown prince Zhu Heyu and Ge Lao Huang Yourong will never join forces forever.

And the next development, just as Zhao Junchen expected, Zhu Heyu and Huang Yourong have different positions and completely different plans, coupled with the contradiction in the distribution of interests, the two quickly abandoned their cooperative attitude and began to conflict with each other.

Among them, Zhu Heyu is the prince of the prison state. Huang Yourong is the old man of the Auxiliary Political Pavilion, Zhu Heyu's status is more noble, and the forces left in the capital are more complete, while Huang Yourong is experienced and more sophisticated, and he has also received the full support of Shen Changmao's faction! In this way, the two sides are basically evenly matched, so the conflict between the two factions is also extremely fierce, containing each other and evenly matched, but no one can help anyone.

And because of that. Zhu Heyu and Huang Yourong both turned their attention to each other, and gradually ignored the suppression of the "Zhao Party", and the "Zhao Party" also took this opportunity to breathe-

Moreover, partisanship is not limited to the "Zhao Party", the "Yellow Party" and the "princelings". Under the gradual chaos of the situation, all parties in the DPRK and China were implicated, whether it was Zhou Shangjing's "Zhou Party," Shen Changmao's "Shen Party," or the centrists.

In this way, the various factions in the DPRK and China began to indulge in fighting each other, and they gradually became unable to extricate themselves. So don't expect them to seriously discuss political affairs.

In fact, during this period of time, the efficiency of the central center of the capital was extremely low, and all officials focused their attention on party struggle, and once one party in the DPRK and China proposed a proposal, another party would inevitably stand up and oppose it, so many government affairs were delayed because of this.

*

Just when Zhao Junchen, Bao Wenjie, and Huo Zhengyuan arrived in Huai'an, thousands of miles away in the capital, the crown prince Zhu and Yu were also worried about the chaotic situation in the court during this time.

In the East Palace, except for Bao Wenjie, the attendant of the Ministry of Rites who accompanied him on the southern tour, all the "princeling" officials gathered together to discuss the recent situation in the imperial court.

After glancing around at everyone, Zhu Heyu slowly opened his mouth and asked everyone: "Recently, the situation in the DPRK and China has been chaotic and turbulent, so that I and others cannot control the overall situation, not only delaying the government affairs of the imperial court, but also delaying the implementation of the 'commercial tax reform plan'. ”

Between the inquiries, the resolute faces of the crown prince Zhu and Yu were full of exhaustion, and their brows were also tightly wrinkled, obviously the party struggle over the past period of time had made him physically and mentally tired.

On the other side, after hearing Zhu Heyu's inquiry, the new pavilion elder Cheng Yuandao, the left inspector of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Yu Shi Lu Chunxiao, the crown prince and young master Guo Tang and others looked at each other a few times, but they were all silent.

In fact, over the past few years, they have thought about and tried various methods, but they have not achieved much success.

Moreover, not all princeling officials wholeheartedly supported the "commercial tax reform plan" of the prince Zhu and Yu, so the strength of the "princeling" has not been fully utilized.

In the past, the officials of the "princelings" looked down on the corrupt officials and traitors in the DPRK and the central government the most, believing that these corrupt officials and traitors had no other ability than to embezzle and accept bribes, abuse power for personal gain, and compete for power.

However, in order to implement the "commercial tax reform plan", the prince's party must first control the overall situation of the imperial court and expand its own power and influence, so during this period of time, the prince's party has also had to put down its body and spare no effort to participate in the party struggle.

It's just that after the princelings really participated in the party struggle, they found that "fighting for power" is not just a simple four words, there is a lot of knowledge in it, and it is not as simple as it seems, at least they can't do it well.

If it is difficult to say, during this period of time, the prince's party has been biting people everywhere like mad dogs, whether it is the "Zhao Party", "Huang Party", "Shen Party", "Zhou Party", they all took action to suppress - although Huang Yourong took the lead in provoking this party struggle, but the situation was so chaotic that most of it was due to the prince's party - but the effect was not obvious. At present, the situation between the DPRK and China is still deadlocked, and the princeling party has spent countless efforts, but it still has not been able to gain enough power and influence, so the "commercial tax reform plan" has not been implemented for a long time.

For such a situation. The "princeling" officials were also helpless.

Seeing that everyone was silent, the eyes of Prince Zhu and Yu flashed with disappointment, and they were just about to say something, when someone suddenly entered the main hall and walked quickly to Prince Zhu and Yu. Whispered: "His Royal Highness the Prince, the Seventh Prince has come to see you, and now he is waiting in the study." ”

After hearing the report, Zhu Heyu couldn't help but be stunned.

Since Emperor Deqing's southern tour, the condition of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian has recurred, and he has been sick in bed for a long time, and the prince Zhu Heyu is still very worried about this, and has repeatedly visited Zhu Hejian's condition, why Zhu Hejian suddenly dragged his sick body to visit him today?

Thinking of Zhu Hejian's physical condition, Zhu Heyu couldn't help but be a little anxious. Seeing that no one had come up with a feasible proposal, he waved his hand and said, "In that case, you adults should go back and think of a way first, if you think of a feasible solution, you can come to me for discussion whenever it is, and if it is feasible, I will definitely adopt it." ”

After finishing speaking, Prince Zhu and Yu stood up first and walked in the direction of the study.

*

After coming to the study. The crown prince Zhu Heyu didn't care about anything else, and first looked at Zhu Hejian.

I saw Zhu Hejian's face full of sickness, looking extremely weak, but between sitting and lying. still kept the etiquette, and after seeing the prince Zhu and Yu appear, he hurriedly got up and saluted the prince Zhu and Yu.

Zhu Heyu walked a few steps quickly, helped Zhu Hejian up, and sighed: "Seventh brother." How many times have I told you, the two of us are brothers, and we don't need these false courtesies on weekdays...... Also, you haven't recovered yet, why don't you recuperate in the house, what are you doing here? If there is something, just send someone to inform me, I will naturally go to your house to find you, your health is not good, you should rest more, run around like this, if the body has recurred, but how is it good? ”

After Zhu Hejian got up, his face was expressionless, and he said slowly: "Third brother, I came to look for you this time to advise you on the current situation in the imperial court!" ”

After hearing Zhu Hejian's words, Zhu Heyu couldn't help but be stunned again.

In the Ming Dynasty, the prince must not interfere in politics, otherwise he will commit a big taboo! Although Zhu Hejian has not yet been crowned king, he should also avoid it, and Zhu Hejian has always been cautious of his duties, how could he suddenly seek advice from himself for the sake of the political situation of the court?

Just when Zhu Heyu was puzzled, Zhu Hejian had already said slowly: "Third brother, the younger brother is just a useless prince who is sick in bed, and he doesn't even have the throne, so it stands to reason that he is not qualified to advise you at all, but after hearing about the recent situation in the court, the younger brother thought about it, for the sake of the overall situation of the court, and for the sake of the third brother, but he was going to trespass once!" ”

Speaking, without waiting for Zhu Heyu to react, Zhu Hejian had already changed his bitter expression and said: "Third brother, my brother heard that recently, the situation in the court has been turbulent and chaotic, not only delaying government affairs, but also panicking the officials, is this true?" ”

Zhu Heyu hesitated for a moment, and saw that Zhu Hejian looked serious, so he didn't hide it, and nodded: "In recent days, the situation in the court has indeed not been very stable. ”

"Brother I heard again that such a turbulent situation is all due to the third brother, you and the various factions in the DPRK and China are fighting for power?" Zhu Hejian looked directly at Zhu Heyu and asked again.

Zhu Heyu hesitated for a moment, then still nodded and said, "You can also say that." ”

"Third brother, you are confused!" Zhu Hejian looked like he hated iron but not steel, and said loudly: "Some time ago, because of the preparation of the Southern Tour and the 'Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case', your reputation has decreased a lot, and it is only because of the support of your father that you have not caused any trouble. At this time, the third brother should be calmer, do more practical things, and take the opportunity to save his reputation, how can he take advantage of his father's southern tour to compete for power with various factions? In this way, what will your father think of you when he finds out? What will the officials think of you? ……”

As he spoke, Zhu Hejian became louder and louder, and said: "Third brother, how many times have I told you, even if you are no longer accustomed to those corrupt officials and traitors in the court, you should try to be patient, otherwise you will be caught by others and attract hostility!" As long as you are not at fault, the throne will be yours sooner or later, and you will be able to get rid of those corrupt officials and traitors sooner or later, so why rush for a while! ”

While speaking, Zhu Hejian was too excited, which caused a fierce cough, and his originally pale face turned red.

Zhu Hejian's appearance was frightened, but he frightened Zhu Hejian, hurriedly took care of Zhu Hejian, and took care of Zhu Hejian, and after being busy for a while, Zhu Hejian eased up, but after relieving, Zhu Hejian still continued to admonish Zhu Heyu, telling Zhu Heyu not to be vain, otherwise it would only hurt others and himself.

Seeing Zhu Hejian like this, Zhu Heyu only felt that Zhu Hejian was thinking about himself, and when he saw Zhu Hejian's painful appearance at this time, he was even more moved and distressed.

Therefore, Zhu Heyu decided to reveal his plan to Zhu Hejian.

"Seventh brother, in fact, you misunderstood the third brother...... That's it, I don't have to hide it from you, I am competing for power with various factions in the DPRK and China this time, not to increase my own power, but to control the situation in the imperial court, and implement a commercial tax reform plan, once this plan is successfully implemented, the imperial court can increase the tax revenue of 10 million taels of silver every year, which is a good thing for the future! ”

After a pause, Zhu Heyu added: "No one knows about this matter except for some close officials around me, and now I see that you misunderstood me, so I explained it to you, but you must not mention it to others." ”

Hearing Zhu Heyu say this, a trace of contempt flashed in Zhu Hejian's eyes.

Princeling officials have always been lascivious, and Prince Zhu Heyu's "commercial tax reform plan" has already leaked out, so Zhu Hejian naturally knew about it for a long time.

In Zhu Hejian's view, Zhu Heyu's implementation of this "commercial tax reform plan" is definitely a way to bring about his own destruction, because Zhu Hejian is ambitious for the position of prince, so he is also happy to see it come to fruition.

However, the incompetence of the princelings is really beyond Zhu Hejian's imagination, and in the case of dominance, he has been unable to control the situation in the temple for such a long time, and if this continues, I am afraid that after the end of Emperor Deqing's southern tour, the "commercial tax reform plan" of the crown prince Zhu Heyu will not be able to be implemented.

So, Zhu Hejian couldn't stand it, so he had to personally "help" Zhu Heyu.

Previously, Zhu Hejian's various attitudes were also to let Zhu Heyu say the plan for commercial tax reform.

Now, listening to Zhu Heyu finally talk about the plan for commercial tax reform, Zhu Hejian's expression also eased.

"I see, but I misunderstood the third brother." After apologizing to Zhu Heyu, Zhu Hejian thought for a moment, and suddenly said: "However, if the third brother wants to control the situation between the DPRK and China, I have a way!" ”

……

…… (To be continued.) )xh118I580