"The situation is pretty much the same, right?" Zhao Liben glanced at the maid, who then went out trembling. He then said to Zhao Hao, "Duke Dingguo and Eunuch Ji found them, persuaded them with emotion and reason, and finally made them understand that the result of eating alone is that no one else will have anything to eat."
Zhao Hao couldn't help but be a little surprised: "They just gave in so easily?"
Chen Shaoru and Ye Mengxiong were both famous ministers, especially the latter, who was a rare military talent in the Ming Dynasty. How could such a person change his ways so easily?
"Because Duke Dingguo threatened them that if they dared to vote against it, he would send Hai Rui to Guangdong to investigate smuggling!" Zhao Liben blew out a smoke ring and said, "Do you think they are afraid?"
"Is that so?" Zhao Hao suddenly realized and couldn't help but laugh: "I would be afraid too."
Thanks to Lü Guang and Xu Wu's efforts in Beijing, Chen Shaoru and Ye Mengxiong knew about the gentry in Jiangnan, and Hai Rui was tormented and complained bitterly. Many people wanted to move him to another place and let him cause trouble for the gentry in other places.
In fact, if the Jiangnan Group hadn't protected Hai Rui, the governor of Yingtian would have been replaced by now. If the Jiangnan Group and Xishan Company made further efforts, there was a high possibility that Hai Rui would be transferred to Guangdong.
Officials at the governor-general level did not avoid the post. For example, Hu Zongxian, a native of Huizhou, was able to become the governor-general of Zhejiang. What's more, Hai Rui was extremely selfless.
If they really let them move Hai Rui to Guangdong, they would be doomed. What interest groups? What complicated connections? Who could withstand the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms of the Sea Warrior?
By then, I guess all the officials and gentry in Guangdong will hate these two losers to death, right?
This threat is so frightening.
Perfect!
~~
"But the most they can do is abstain from voting." Zhao Liben told Zhao Hao, "They said that even if they voted in favor, they still wouldn't be able to return home. It would be better to ask Hai Gangfeng to help purify Guangdong..."
"Hehe, you really know what's going on." Young Master Zhao said in admiration, "Abstention is good too, don't make it difficult for others."
In his eyes, these two, especially Ye Mengxiong, are future bigwigs worth making friends with, and he doesn't want to push them completely to the opposite side.
"Well, actually abstentions are really good." Zhao Liben flicked the ash into the blue and white porcelain ashtray and said calmly, "I suggest that you don't force those three Shandong old men to vote. Let them abstain as well."
"Grandpa wants a tie?" Zhao Hao frowned. If the other side abstained from voting with five votes, it would be a 20 to 12 advantage. Even if Lao Xier and Huguang Lao voted for the other side with eight votes, it would at least be a tie.
But if one of the five votes goes to Haiyun, I will definitely win. If I try harder, I should be able to win, right? Mr. Zhao still has a lot of benefits to exchange.
Isn't it a pity that it ended in a tie?
"A tie is good, it's the smartest way." Zhao Liben blew out a smoke ring and laughed, "Just think about it, if all five votes were cast for us, what would happen?"
"We have won a great victory." Zhao Hao rubbed his swollen head. After the hangover, his thinking was particularly slow. He thought that his brain was not enough to deal with those top smart people in the Ming Dynasty, and he really couldn't damage his brain cells in vain.
"Wrong, we will face a catastrophe." Zhao Liben sneered and said, "Do you think we won under what circumstances? The Prime Minister, Zhang Xianggong, and the Minister of Personnel were all on the opposite side of us - we were able to win a great victory over the Canal Transport Group under such a passive situation. How do you think the officials in the court and the public feel?"
"Jiangnan Group has killed four people, Jiangnan Group is super awesome, Jiangnan Group is invincible..." Zhao Hao finally understood his grandfather's worries. He was so scared that he sobered up and his mind finally regained its clarity.
"They will think that the Ming Dynasty court is controlled by our Jiangnan Group!" His face turned pale and he said, "But that's not the case at all. This is just a bonus brought about by the special issue."
"Those censors will never reason with you. They will only take our words out of context and exaggerate. They will definitely seize the result of this court discussion and portray us as the devil who can cover the sky with one hand!" Zhao Liben said sternly, "So it's better for us to draw, so as to avoid alerting others."
"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded in agreement and said, "Since we have already decided to let Gao Gong come out, then a draw this time is acceptable."
"That's right." Zhao Liben nodded and said, "You should pay attention to this in the future. If the embankment is higher than the shore, the waves will destroy it. Remember?"
"Remember, we are just playboys." Young Master Zhao said with a cocky smile, "How can a kid like me become a god without even noticing?"
"I call you a mad boy!" The old man gave him a slap on the head. "Be low-key in China, and be high-profile when you go abroad, remember?"
"Remember, remember." Zhao Hao hurriedly covered his head and ran away, fearing that his smart head would be hit dumb.
But grandpa is right. We should indeed be more restrained in the country and keep the Jiangnan Group in a position where it is not conspicuous but is still important enough that people dare not provoke it.
It's not good to be too high-profile. It will bring disaster!
~~
The first day of May in the third year of Longqing's reign was the day of the much-anticipated court meeting on maritime transport.
This day was also the first day of the lunar month. In the morning, Emperor Longqing, sitting on the golden stage, specifically told the ministers who were voting to keep the country and the people in mind, be impartial and wise, and choose a solution to the problem of grain transport.
Then he added quite bluntly that not only should we come up with a solution as soon as possible, but the speed of water transport should also be accelerated, in order to express his support for sea transport.
The ministers naturally responded in unison, but judging from their wooden expressions, no one seemed to have taken it to heart...
"I'd better go back and read my book." Wengweng was very shocked. Every time he went to court, he had to suffer cold violence. This feeling was too bad. How could he feel the pleasure of being an emperor?
After the ministers respectfully saw the emperor off from court, the 45 voting ministers, led by two grand secretaries, came to the Zuoye Gate of the Forbidden City, commonly known as the "East Pavilion", to hold today's court meeting.
When the 45 voting officials stood facing each other in the East Chamber, Li Chunfang, the chief minister of the cabinet who presided over the court meeting, once again explained the content of today's court meeting to the ministers:
"You have all read the notice. Because the Yellow River burst its banks, the Grand Canal will not be used for the next one or two years. But the grain transport cannot be stopped. The grain must be transported to the capital as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous. For this reason, the Grain Transport Office proposed to reopen the Jiaolai River to temporarily solve the urgent problem by combining river and sea transport. In addition, Lin Run, the former governor of Yingtian, and several officials from Jiangnan also submitted petitions requesting sea transport."
"I will list the detailed proposals in the notice I sent to you, so I won't go into details." He paused, looked around at everyone and said, "Today, I am ordered to invite all my colleagues to come and discuss whether river-sea transport is better or pure sea transport is better. This is a serious matter, please speak freely..."
"Yes." The officials responded and began to sit down and discuss, expressing their views on sea transportation and the Jiaolai River.
When it comes to shipping, officials are simply worried about the dangers of sea storms and what to do if the losses are too great. However, the package proposed by Jiangnan Group has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and perfectly solved most of the problems that officials were worried about.
However, someone raised a sharp question on the spot, that is, if the grain is transported by sea, the fleet of Jiangnan Group may have to reach a scale of thousands of large ships.
How can people feel at ease if such a large fleet is not in the hands of the imperial court?
As soon as this was said, all the ministers nodded. Some were about to agree when they heard the Minister of Finance Ma Sen explain:
"Don't worry, everyone. We have already considered this. In the future, maritime transport will be supervised by the government and run by the people. Although the fleet is owned by the people, the royal family and the Ministry of Revenue will jointly send personnel to supervise it, and the court will always maintain control over the fleet and grain."
After a pause, he added: "In addition, seagoing vessels are not allowed to enter the Dagu River or the Yangtze River. All seagoing vessels from the north that enter two miles from the Dagu estuary will be treated as plotting against the law and will be arrested under the supervision of the Tianjin Deputy General. All seagoing vessels from the south that enter two miles from the Yangtze River estuary will also be arrested and punished by the Jiang Yushi."
After hearing this, the ministers felt that the restrictions were very appropriate and had nothing to say.
The Ming Dynasty, which had banned maritime activities for a hundred years, had almost lost its awareness of maritime power. The ministers who formulated national policies were only worried that the ships would attack the two capitals of the north and south along the Dagukou of the Yangtze River. No one was worried about what these ships would do after going out to sea.
Do whatever you want... What does the chaos have to do with the Ming Dynasty?
The lovely court ministers thought so.
~~
However, the discussion on Jiaolai River caused considerable controversy.
Officials, especially those in Jiangnan, bombarded the grain transport office, asking what the intention was in reopening the canal, which had been repeatedly proven to be useless.
After all, the Jiaolai River dries up in spring and summer, with no water source, and surges in autumn and winter, with no water storage. Sand from the north and south seas easily clogs the river, and boats are unable to pass through it. Even if a large number of troops are mobilized to open it, it will only take a few years at most. Compared with simple sea transportation, it is really not cost-effective.
Seeing that the officials who supported the canal transport were dumbfounded by the rebuttal and could only use the weak excuse of "the food and clothing of millions of canal workers depended on it", Li Chunfang had to stop the court meeting in advance.
"Since everyone has their own opinion, let's just vote and see the result." Li Chunfang forced a 50-50 split, then nodded to Zhang Siwei, the Imperial Academy reader who was in charge of counting the votes.
Zhang Siwei distributed the blank question books, and after the voting ministers finished writing and closed the question books, he put the thick stack of question books away again.
"Read it." Li Chunfang ordered.
Because it is a secret ballot, there is no need to supervise the counting of votes. It is enough for him to read out the results on the spot.
"Yes." Zhang Siwei opened the books one by one and read:
"Minister of Personnel Yang Bo supports Jiao Lai."
"The Minister of War Huo Ji supports Jiao Lai."
"The Minister of Rites Gao Yi supports shipping."
"Ma Sen, the Minister of Revenue, supports shipping."
"Mao Kai, the Minister of Justice, supports shipping."
"Minister of Industry Zhu Heng supports shipping."
Two Shujishi who were in charge of counting stood in front of a blackboard and wrote the correct characters.
When the six Shangshu were read out, the situation was still normal and the officials were not surprised. But when the number of Shilang was read out, things suddenly went haywire...
ps. Please give me monthly votes for the third update.