"So, who is Li Mingfeng? Is he related to Shen Chun?"
Lu Kun got straight to the point.
Wang Wei said,
"Li Mingfeng is not related to Shen Chun. Although he is also from Jiangyou, he is from Nanchang Prefecture..."
Oh?
Zhu Mo and Lu Kun were both surprised.
Zhu Mo asked,
"Nanchang? What is this person's background to be able to fire kilns here?"
He thought that if it was an old kiln owner, it would naturally be through connections. But the new kiln owner was selected by Zhang Juzheng himself, so there would be no problem. Later, three more batches were selected, all of them trial production selections, with the best quality winning. Because of this, these new kiln owners often had no background, and in a place like Jingdezhen, once the reform tide receded, they would naturally be bullied.
Wang Wei thought for a moment and said,
"My friend mentioned it, saying that Li Mingfeng seemed to be acquainted with the Left Chief Clerk of the Prince of Yi's mansion. At that time, Ma Sen was still in charge of the kilns, and he didn't make things difficult for him, but instead gave him a Dragon Kiln..."
Oh?
Zhu Mo almost exclaimed –
No wonder Shen Chun didn't react at all after the incident, it turned out there was someone else?!
This also explained another question: why was there a prophecy involving Emperor Jianwen?
Because the Prince of Yi was also an old feudal prince. Since the Hongzhi era, the feudal princes had been dealt with by court officials. Often, even a small matter would lead to severe impeachment. To protect themselves, some feudal princes, like the Prince of Ning and the Prince of Raoyang, directly rebelled; the weaker ones could only turn to powerful families for help, and some even merged with the meritorious officials of Emperor Jianwen, gaining a reliance. The Prince of Yi was likely one of them.
Thinking of this, the matter gradually became clear—
It was probably instructed by the Prince of Yu for the Prince of Yi to send someone to stir up trouble, with the goal of inciting conflict between the old and new kiln owners, which would naturally involve the success or failure of the reform. After the incident broke out, Shen Chun of the Yan family was bewildered. Perhaps after a few days of uproar, the Yan family figured out the inside story and then released the prophecy, directly linking the meritorious officials of Emperor Jianwen with him, Zhu Mo?
The Yan family was not worried that the Prince of Yu and Zhu Mo would join forces, because the transgression was not done by the Yan family, but by the people sent by the Prince of Yu. Shen Chun of the Yan family might at most be accused of negligence in oversight, but with all the officials and gentry in the world watching with wide eyes, how could Shen Chun, who was sent by the Prince of Yi to stir up trouble, be able to stop it?
And as for the Prince of Yu, the Yan family had handed him a knife to kill Zhu Mo, and since the incident was caused by the Prince of Yu himself, he had no choice but to accept it...
With this thought,
Zhu Mo asked again in a low voice:
"What about Shen Chun? How was Shen Chun dealt with?"
Wang Wei said,
"Initially, Lord Shen was suppressed. After all, the incident had escalated, and as the Supervisor of Kilns, he couldn't escape responsibility... But the strange thing was, suddenly an imperial censor appeared, and someone else reported the matter. The imperial censor even reminded Shen Chun that he had to explain the matter of exceeding ritual regulations... Lord Shen naturally refused, saying he would wait for the imperial court to send a high official to handle it!"
Mm-hmm,
Even Lu Kun could see it now—
The imperial censor clearly did not want Shen Chun to suppress the matter, but to make it big from the start. This proved that it was not the Yan family who did it at first.
He thought for a moment and sighed to Zhu Mo,
"Zi Xuan, you were right. This matter needs to be investigated in secret... If we barge in openly, how can we get to the bottom of it?"
Mm-hmm,
Zhu Mo smiled and said,
"That's right. It seems we have some clues. Our initial guess wasn't wrong. This matter is still divided into two parts. In the first part, the Yan family really didn't make a move; instead, someone else was involved, and they were very impatient, insisting on making a big fuss... Heh, this is really interesting..."
He paused and said to Wang Wei,
"Mr. Wang, thank you!"
Wang Wei was originally a merchant and had a lot of money, but in Hangzhou, he was always bullied by the Yan family's businesses. The Xing Zong also levied heavy taxes for a long time, causing him to not only not earn anything over the years but also lose a lot. Unable to swallow his pride, he agreed to Lu Kun's request. The reason he trusted Lu Kun was that Lu Kun's methods had no repercussions; one deal was one deal, like doing business, cash for goods, which was the most convenient.
At this time,
Seeing Zhu Mo's even more extraordinary demeanor, he was delighted and said,
"Thank you, Scholar Zhu. I will definitely report back if there's anything!"
After Wang Wei left,
The two discussed for a while longer. Lu Kun was now very capable and said worriedly,
"Zi Xuan, since that Li Mingfeng is related to the Prince of Yi, then he is likely also connected to the Prince of Yu... But for the Prince of Yu to act like this, just to bring you down, is it worth sacrificing so much? If he exposes his handle like this, wouldn't Yan Shifan create a prophecy and lock him in?"
Yes,
Zhu Mo also shook his head and said,
"If the Yan family and Shen Chun produce the handle of that Li Mingfeng, wouldn't the Prince of Yu be caught by the Yan family? I think this prophecy also means that the Yan family is bargaining with the Prince of Yu..."
The two looked at the silks and satins, the bustling crowds on the street, and the hurried expressions and uneasy emotions emanating from the liveliness, and were suddenly filled with emotion—
This Prince of Yu,
He was clearly flustered and acting recklessly.
"Zi Xuan, what should we do?"
Lu Kun felt a bit helpless.
Zhu Mo also sighed,
"Let's wait and see. It's the same as before, we must not have any bloodshed... Otherwise, the reform will be tainted..."
...
At night,
The Supervisor of Kilns' residence.
Shen Chun was anxious, and Peng Bosheng and the two deputy supervisors were also a bit panicked.
Things had happened too suddenly. They had planned everything well, but suddenly an unexpected player emerged. The entire situation felt like preparing a grand meal and then having someone else snatch it away before they could eat it... That was not the worst part; it was enough to let others do it, as the result would still be chaos.
But the problem was, in Jingdezhen now, there was still a set of five-clawed dragon artifacts they had prepared. Given the tense situation, Shen Chun could only pretend to be unfazed, but he was already extremely panicked! If they destroyed them, in the current chaos, wouldn't it attract attention? If they continued to hide them, what if they were discovered again?
That's right,
He, Shen Chun, was still the Supervisor of Kilns, but he might not be in the future! Once new people took over and conducted inspections of every kiln, they would eventually be found out. Moreover, even if he remained the Supervisor of Kilns now, with the imperial censors watching, how could he send people around?
Not only that, but the Junior Grand Secretary had asked them to release the prophecy, and the blame was no longer solely aimed at Zhu Mo... It also implicitly pointed to the Crown Prince! This was a serious matter! In the Junior Grand Secretary's initial letter, it was not stated like this...
Shen Chun paced back and forth a few times and said decisively,
"No! Old Peng, you still have to go and destroy those things, and do it cleanly! Keeping them will be a disaster sooner or later..."
Peng Bosheng had long urged him to destroy them quickly, but for days the imperial censors had been constantly monitoring and demanding replies. The new kiln owners and new households had also been mobilized, patrolling every night. The two sides were on the verge of conflict, and Shen Chun dared not take the risk!
"Lord Shen, don't worry, I'll do it tonight, in the latter half of the night! At most, at dawn, I'll send people into the kiln. It'll only take the time for an incense stick. Then, with a flurry of sticks and cudgels, bang bang bang, they'll be smashed! Along with the artifacts, they'll be smashed, and no one will be able to tell!"
Mm-hmm,
Shen Chun finally nodded and sighed,
"Now, you must not have any ulterior motives... We are all on the same boat; we will live or die together! Well... look at this, it's a letter from the Junior Grand Secretary... It seems the Junior Grand Secretary is already negotiating with the Prince of Yu's people in the capital..."
Peng Bosheng read it and understood Yan Shifan's intentions. He praised,
"The Junior Grand Secretary is brilliant! Originally, he wanted to make the Prince of Yu and Zhu Mo fight. Now that the Prince of Yu has been caught, he has no choice but to go all out!"
The other two deputy supervisors also read it and were sincerely impressed, feeling that Yan Shifan's reputation as a genius was indeed widespread. He was truly ruthless and courageous enough to perfectly control the Crown Prince!
But Shen Chun suddenly glared at the three of them, while sighing inwardly—
Yan Shifan acting like this, where was the way back?
Let alone anything else, if this matter was known to others, it would be a capital offense for the Prince of Yu! And that "Ghost Worry-Go-Getter" would still go to get his handle?
Alas...
He suddenly felt that his life was over. For some reason, the Yan family had decided to go all out. Did they really want to rebel against the Zhu family's reign?
He sat down and closed his eyes for a moment, then said,
"Is there no conflict between the two sides now?"
Peng Bosheng said,
"Well, they haven't fought, but there are still sporadic clashes, all at night, and they don't disturb the people..."
Alas...
Shen Chun thought about it and became increasingly annoyed, saying,
"Let's not worry about it for now... Let's get that done tonight..."