Chapter 1736 Renzijuan Finalist
Following Feng Ziying's reorganization of the 3rd team of Shuntian Prefecture's yamen, many people from Ni's second group joined the 3rd team to catch the police, and the cooperation between the two parties was greatly strengthened.
One of the tasks given by Wu Yaoqing was to inform Hongqing Temple and Cuihua Hutong, two known locations of White Lotus Sect activities, and told Feng Ziying that they paid great attention to them, and Ni Er naturally cared about them.
“Is there any abnormal behavior?”
"Cuihua Hutong is now inaccessible and has basically disappeared. According to the last two tracking paths of the people we followed, one group of people went to Gu'an and another group of people went to Bazhou." Ni Er observed Feng Ziying while observing With a look on his face, he explained in a low voice: "I happened to have a reliable brother whose hometown is Gu'an, so I asked him to go back to Gu'an to see if he could make some connections and get to know the situation. He was very lucky. After he returned, I quickly got in touch through a relative, and I finally joined Bailian over there. Their brand name is the Yuandun Sect,..."
Feng Ziying was not in a good mood. Both Gu'an and Bazhou still belonged to Shuntian Prefecture, and the central and southern parts of Shuntian Prefecture were on the fringes. However, they still belonged to Shuntian Prefecture. If something happened, it was still theirs.
"what else?"
"The news from my brother is that they have very close contacts with Baoding Prefecture. He followed a so-called preacher to Yizhou, Laishui, Dingxing, Xincheng, and Xiongxian County, and went from village to house. very popular."
"What do they do when they go from village to house?" Feng Ziying calmed down and then asked carefully: "Your brother can follow a missionary teacher out so quickly, and a new guy will not be suspected? "
"Hui Ye, my brother is smart and tactful, and he is a member of a local family in Gu'an. In addition, I asked him to use some money and had several local guarantors as guarantees, so he got in smoothly..." Ni Er didn't dare to lie, "But he could only follow the master around. When the master really came into contact with important local people, he couldn't see him. He could only communicate with the disciples around him through various observations. Make good friends with each other, try to figure out some things,..."
Ni Er said it in such detail, and Feng Ziying felt relieved. This person looked rough but was actually very careful and cautious. Otherwise, he would not be able to gain such a reputation in the west of the capital city. Although he has been supported by himself in the past two years, but It also has a lot to do with his own temperament.
The person he can like must have some ability. Judging from what he said, it is safe for his brother to join the White Lotus Sect.
“How is Hongqing Temple?” Feng Ziying brought the topic back.
"The side of Hongqing Temple should be related to the side of Cuihua Hutong, but they are not close, or they are not in the same group. Their people's movements are mysterious and they come and go in a hurry. It is also difficult for our people to follow them and they often cannot keep up. Mr. Wu said that we would rather be lost than exposed, so we are also very cautious. Judging from the situation in the past two months, there were people from Shanxi who had close contact with them, but then there was no trace. In addition, some time ago, There are more cases where they go to Huairou, but we can’t grasp the specific whereabouts..."
"Have you discovered anything else about those people in Shanxi? Where did those people come from?" After all, they are not professionals, and they cannot be exposed and have direct contact. Feng Ziying feels that it is good to be able to achieve this step.
Ni Er shook his head, "We can't follow the Shanxi side. It's too easy to be exposed. Those people hardly interact with outsiders and can't get close. The only ones who are a little suspicious..."
“What’s suspicious?”
"Our people came close twice and heard the conversation between them. It didn't seem to be a Shanxi accent, but more like a foreign accent, mixed with Mongolian..." Ni Er scratched his head. He was not too sure about this situation. .
"Oh?" Feng Ziying thought deeply. This issue needs attention. Is there any connection between the White Lotus Sect and the Mongols? It's unlikely, but it's true that there is a large group of Lao Bailian teaching people outside the border wall.
Not long after staying in the government office, Feng Ziying received a call from Wenyuan Pavilion, which made him feel as if he was already a candidate for the cabinet minister.
The series of news may have made the imperial cabinet a little at a loss. After all, Ye Xianggao, Fang Congzhe, even Qi Yongtai and Li Sancai have never really experienced such a thing.
The cabinet ministers during the Imjin Japanese Rebellion had all died of old age, and they had never experienced such a chaos.
Moreover, this incident is different from a foreign war. This is a real civil strife, a challenge from within.
The Nanjing Yamen was suddenly upgraded to a Nanjing imperial court that rivaled the capital. The cabinet and the Seven Ministries plus the Procuratorate were all well-organized, and Prince Yi Zhong had already issued edicts to all parts of the country. This was a posture to directly replace it. How can this not keep the cabinet ministers busy?
Prince Yitada’s years of accumulated power and the support of a group of Jiangnan gentry have made these three places his base, and Fujian is likely to follow.
Although Ye Xianggao and Li Tingji are very influential in Fujian, this is the general trend. Jiangnan is one, and the prestige of one or two people is difficult to reverse the overall situation, unless there are other changes that affect the entire trend.
Feng Ziying also had a special understanding of the situation of the Six Ministries in Nanjing at the time. It was similar to the previous Ming Dynasty, but different. Among the Six Ministries in Nanjing, the Household Department had the greatest power. All grain and taxes in the four provinces of Nanjing, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang were collected and turned over to the Nanjing Household Department. In the Imperial Household Department, the Nanjing Military Department is responsible for military affairs in the three provinces of Nanzhi, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. The Nanjing Civil Service Department is in charge of official affairs in the two provinces of Nanjing and Zhejiang. The Nanjing Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Rites are only responsible for the affairs of the Nanjing area, with gradually decreasing powers. .
So from this point of view, it seems that Fujian has always been independent of the jurisdiction of Nanjing ministries. Whether it is military affairs, taxation or even official inspections, they have nothing to do with Nanjing. However, in fact, because most Fujian scholars are in Nanjing, He, Zhejiang and Jiangyou were studying and traveling together, so they were almost one, and Fujian officials were mostly scholars from Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, so the relationship was very close. Therefore, once the Nanjing court was established separately, there was a high possibility that Fujian would fall to Nanjing.
So Jiangnan generally refers to the four provinces of Zhizhi, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Fujian. The four provinces are integrated and advance and retreat together.
On the way to Wenyuan Pavilion, Feng Ziying was also thinking a lot. For him, such a scene was beyond expectations.
Although I had expected this scene before, when the moment actually arrived, I still felt a little overwhelmed. It was difficult to deal with such things coming out all at once, what was first and what was last, and what the priorities were.
As soon as he arrived at the gate of Wenyuan Pavilion, Feng Ziying saw Qi Yongtai's entourage.
He immediately realized that summoning him might be different from the last time. Qi Yongtai specially asked his confidant to wait for him at the door. He probably had other arrangements.
As expected, Feng Ziying arrived at Qi Yongtai’s office first after following Chang Sui.
Wenyuan Pavilion is just a general name. In fact, it consists of a main hall and a circle of small courtyards. Each of the five ministers has his own separate office and residence, and they are all independent and do not interfere with each other. After entering the gate, they are Each goes his own way, and even if they go in together, you may not know which cabinet minister the other party is going to.
Ordinary collective discussions are held in the main hall. In Feng Ziying's view, such main hall discussions are equivalent to cabinet administrative meetings, and major officials from the Seven Ministries and the Metropolitan Procuratorate may be invited to participate.
Qi Yongtai's small courtyard was already crowded, which made Feng Ziying even more aware that today's summons should be a major event that all political forces in the capital city need to face seriously, so he had to seek advice from various political groups. The opinions of important members meant that I was finally lucky enough to enter this Northland political group and become one of them.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, Feng Ziying saw Lian Guoshi. Feng Ziying was also very happy. She walked forward quickly and took the other person's arm. "Jun Yu, when did you come back? You didn't say anything to me?"
“I just came back at midnight last night. I was called here early this morning. I guess you will come too...” Lian Guoshi was also very happy.
Feng Ziying looked around, and then whispered: "Just the two of us?"
Lian Guoshi nodded slightly and understood the meaning of Feng Ziying's words. There were at least ten people in this courtyard. When he said "the two of us", he meant that they were the only two of the younger generation of northern scholars, or simply said that they were the two of them in the fifth year of Yonglong. There are only two of them in one section.
He was a fellow scholar of Yongping who practiced state affairs, and he was the top scholar in this subject in the fifth year of Yonglong. Feng Ziying was a scholar of the Hanlin Academy who was born as a second-class Jinshi Shujishi. Now he is a fourth-grade Shuntian Fucheng, one of the young scholars in the North. They were unparalleled, and they were also near the capital, so it was appropriate to recruit them, in order to listen to the opinions of the younger generation of northern scholars.
"In addition to Prime Minister Qi, Duke Zhang, Duke Cui, Duke Qiao, all are here, Lord Wang, Lord Sun, Lord Zhou, Lord Han and other princes in the court are also here." Lian Guo came for a while beforehand, and he should be with all the princes. After saying hello, Zhang Huaichang, Cui Jingrong, Qiao Yingjia, Wang Yongguang, Sun Juxiang, Han Xu, Zhou Yongchun and others were also elite leaders among the northern scholars.
“Where is Prime Minister Li?” Feng Ziying asked after hesitation.
Lian Guoshi also hesitated for a moment, "I haven't seen him. Maybe he doesn't want to come over, or maybe Prime Minister Qi will communicate with him then."
Li Sancai was from the north, but he was on good terms with the scholars from the south of the Yangtze River, but his relationship with the scholars from the north was somewhat unfamiliar. Under such circumstances, it would be awkward for him to come or not.
"You should still call Prime Minister Li. It seems a bit narrow-minded to care about those sectarian opinions at this time." Feng Ziying shook her head, "Master Qi is not so shallow."
Just as he was talking, he saw Li Sancai coming in from outside. All the princes also greeted him, looking very happy to see each other.
(End of this chapter)