To be honest, Zhao Hao has always been afraid of getting involved in national government affairs.

Mencius said: "Governing is not difficult, as long as you do not offend the powerful. What the powerful admire, the whole country admires."

Yasheng likes to speak the truth. One sentence reveals the essence of the political power from ancient times to the present - as long as you don't offend the rich and powerful, it is not difficult to govern. Because in the era when people were not enlightened, public opinion was in the hands of the rich and powerful, and their likes and dislikes determined the likes and dislikes of the people across the country. So offending the rich and powerful is offending the whole society. How can you play without any troops?

Master Zhao was doing very well in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong areas, and he had absolute power, but he still did not dare to go against this sentence.

Moreover, there were no large, reactionary, and stubborn families in the southeastern provinces, namely, the royal princes. Although land annexation was also serious in the southeast, due to the development of industry and commerce, most landlords tended to plant more profitable cash crops.

Human beings' nature of pursuing higher profits makes them not satisfied with simply providing raw materials, and they will engage in industry and commerce to a greater extent.

For example, the Xu family is a good example. Although they have vast tracts of land and are undoubted landlords, most of the Xu family's land is planted with cotton. They employ 30,000 to 40,000 weavers and monopolize 70% of the cotton cloth business at the time. In order to gain greater profits, they also actively participate in smuggling, realizing a one-stop service of raw materials, production, supply and marketing.

It was the strong business atmosphere in the southeast that gave Zhao Hao the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. He tied up the interests of the wealthy families through the Jiangnan Group, and through the continuous innovation of industrial and agricultural production technology, a variety of business operation methods, and the rapid improvement of medical, educational, and military technology, the wealthy families obtained more than ten times the original profits, enjoyed much greater rights than before, and saw a much brighter future than before.

What he gained far outweighed what he lost, so of course the wealthy were willing to follow him and listen to him.

Even so, Zhao Hao only completed an incomplete land reform through long-term leasing to reshape the production relations in the southeast, liberate productivity, and accelerate the transformation of landowners into industrial and commercial owners. However, he did not change the ownership of the land, and had to pay considerable rent to the landlords every year.

This is the only way to complete a disguised redistribution of land in the southeast without bloodshed.

However, the economic development of the Ming Dynasty was extremely uneven, and the entire north and southwest did not have the harsh conditions for "moderate land reform". Without the cooperation of water conservancy projects and fertilizers and pesticides, the barren land would turn the "family farm model" into a bottomless pit of money-losing, and the more farms were opened, the more they lost.

Even if he gritted his teeth and invested regardless of the cost, by the time the water conservancy was completed and the fertilizer industry was developed, it would have entered a small ice age with frequent natural disasters. Floods, droughts, locust plagues, and extreme cold weather were not something that human power could contend with... The situation would not improve until half a century later, when sunspot activity returned to normal.

Therefore, Zhao Hao was very clear that his territory in the country had almost expanded to its limit, and at most he could add Huguang, Jiangxi in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the Jiaodong Peninsula in Shandong.

He did not dare to set foot in western Shandong. First, the feudal lords and the Duke of Yansheng were rampant and tyrannical there, and it had already been completely rotten. Second, transportation was inconvenient. The high freight made all production have no advantages and could not join the large cycle of industry and commerce.

Man cannot fight against nature. The correct approach during the Little Ice Age was to migrate to Southeast Asia in large numbers to reduce the population pressure at home, and even to feed the country to survive the famine. When the extreme cold weather was over, he would go back to boost the economy in the north, and then head north. This was the path he had set long ago.

But what my father-in-law wants to do is to extend the life of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty has been established for 200 years, and it is difficult to reverse the situation. It is impossible to avoid the serious problems. It is necessary to offend the three major families of bureaucrats and landlords, royal family princes, and military leaders of the guards to achieve this. "Offending the big families" will inevitably make it difficult to move forward and be criticized by thousands of people...

And the question is, why should we extend the life of such a country? In Zhao Hao's view, a country that cannot seek development for the nation, cannot seek welfare for the people, and cannot even protect the people from foreign invasion is not worth staying in. Let it die early and be reborn, and replace it with a luxurious upgraded version of New China, isn't it better?

Therefore, Zhao Hao has not been very active in arranging for Zhao Shouzheng to join the cabinet.

But Zhang Wenming's death sounded a wake-up call for him. The strong inertia of history cannot be easily reversed. He must be prepared for his father-in-law to live only five years.

Zhao Hao knew very well that even if he used the technique of clones, the three major groups were already the elephants in the room, and sooner or later they were destined to confront the owner of the room. The sooner this day came, the greater the damage to China; the later it came, the greater the possibility of a natural outcome.

For Zhao Hao, five years is far from enough. His three revolutions and great immigration will take at least another twenty years, or a generation, to bring about earth-shaking changes to this country.

So if my father-in-law passes away in five years, who will continue to protect the three major groups in the remaining fifteen years? Although Xishan Group and Jiangnan Group are already umbrella-level, the Ming Dynasty is a monarchical society. Only those who can withstand the power of the emperor can provide real security for the group.

We must prepare for a rainy day.

So even though he felt that his father was not cut out for it, he still did not object to his grandfather's proposal.

But the most reliable way is to try to make my father-in-law live a few more years...

On the way here, Zhao Hao suddenly realized that if he wanted his father-in-law to be his umbrella for a few more years, he had to help him get through this hurdle.

He absolutely could not fight to the death like in another time and space, and from then on he was completely opposed to the civil service group, so he could only suppress his dissatisfaction with force. The civil service group did not dare to oppose openly, so they acted in a weird way and played collectively, which made Zhang Xianggong angry all day long. His character became more and more paranoid, and he finally burned himself, dying young.

In this world, we must try to reduce friction in everything we do. Sufficient lubrication can make everyone feel comfortable and save effort. Mr. Zhao can't just let people call him "Little Cabinet Elder" for nothing, right? This time he decided to act as a lubricant between Mr. Zhang and the civil servants, so that they wouldn't suffer so much...

But when he told his grandfather about his idea, Zhao Liben frowned and said, "It's a tricky thing! If you do this, you might end up being a nobody."

Zhao Liben took two puffs of his cigarette, sorted out his words and said, "Your father-in-law's performance evaluation system has put too much pressure on all officials. In recent years, some officials have been struggling to make ends meet. Even the Jiangnan Gang has some complaints, but they are reluctant to do so for the sake of our relationship."

Zhao Hao nodded. This was normal. Even a dog would be tired of being in charge for three years, not to mention that Prime Minister Zhang had been in charge for six years. He knew that his elder brother Zhao Jin did not like Zhang Juzheng very much, and thought that Prime Minister Zhang was too "hasty and arbitrary" and "disrespectful", which was really unworthy of the Prime Minister.

The two of them discussed it all night but couldn't come up with a safe solution. Zhao Liben could only let Zhao Hao go to the casket first, wait and see how the situation develops, and then respond accordingly...

~~

Zhao Hao arrived in Beijing at noon the next day. Instead of going home, he went straight to Dashamao Hutong, dressed in mourning clothes and played the role of a poor filial son and grandson.

Although Mr. Zhang has many sons, only Sixiu is by his side now, and the rest are in his hometown in Jiangling. He just needs this half son to take over.

As for his precious daughter, Mr. Zhang was reluctant to use her. Zhang Xiaojing came to cry only once, and he drove her back with a dark face, scolding her for running around right after the confinement. What if she got sick?

Zhao Hao also felt sorry for his wife, so he asked her to go home and take good care of the children. He would stay here and fulfill his filial duty to her.

But Master Zhao didn't expect that fulfilling this filial piety would be so difficult and tiring...

Normally, officials would be approved to return home to observe mourning after submitting a petition for resignation upon hearing of the death of the emperor. However, Zhang Juzheng repeatedly petitioned to beg to return home to observe mourning, but the emperor and his mother were determined to keep Zhang, so a long tug-of-war ensued.

There was an endless stream of guests coming to pay their respects, and some even came two or three times to express their grief. But Zhao Hao and Zhang Sixiu, who kowtowed on behalf of Zhang Xianggong, suffered a lot. They knelt from morning till night, and their knees and foreheads were bruised...

But it is worth it. If he behaves well at this time, his father-in-law will treat him as his own son.

On the other hand, Zhao Liben also returned to the capital and paid close attention to the direction of the officialdom. Dashamao Hutong and Zhaojia Hutong were not far apart, and Zhao Hao went home every other night, just in time to communicate with the old man.

Zhao Liben told him that although he was still following the routine of three refusal and three retention, public opinion had already formed an opinion on Zhang Xianggong. This was because in the "Petition for Grace and Guardianship" published by the imperial court, Zhang Xianggong claimed that "I will report to my father in the twenty-seventh month and serve the emperor for the rest of my life", but his attitude in the text was not firm.

"He even said something like 'I have heard that those who receive extraordinary favors should give extraordinary returns. Extraordinary things cannot be restrained by extraordinary principles.'" Zhao Liben, wearing tortoise-shell glasses, read Zhang Xianggong's masterpiece with a sigh of relief and said:

"There is something else behind these words. Especially the phrase 'not something that can be constrained by reason', used in a petition to beg for mercy and observe the mourning system, it is not only far-fetched, but also self-contradictory. No wonder others would think too much."

"Yeah." Zhao Hao leaned back on the recliner and let Sister Ma apply an ice pack to his forehead. "It's just to pave the way for the next part."

"Yes, it gets more and more explicit as it goes on." Zhao Liben shook his head and said:

"After listening to him, he became more and more unreasonable... How can I care about the criticism of others, follow the petty details of ordinary people, and stick to common sense? Moreover, I have received the imperial edict that 'the father's system should be followed, and the king and father are more important'. How can I not think about it and consider the importance of it?"

After reading it, he took off his glasses, put down his copybook, and said sarcastically, "Is this human language? Are you blaming others for gossiping?"

Although he knew that this was a confidential study room with guards guarding it everywhere, Zhao Hao still looked at the door guiltily, fearing that Xiao Zhuzi would hear him.

Then he sighed helplessly and said, "Everyone around my father-in-law is trying to persuade him to give up the relationship, and all the ministries have submitted petitions to persuade him to stay. Maybe he feels that the situation is under control."

"You need to persuade him to be more resolute." Zhao Liben said, "This ambiguity only adds to the jokes."

"How can I persuade him? He wrote all these memorials himself, and no one else can interfere." Zhao Hao said with a wry smile, "Besides, everyone is persuading him to give up the love. If I dare to go against him, I'm afraid I'll get a slap in the face."

"That's right, let's keep watching." Zhao Liben sighed, "But based on my many years of experience in the court, I think the current direction of the wind is very problematic. If it continues like this, something bad will definitely happen."