Chapter 78: Tian Jiao

  The struggle between factions in the Ming dynasty has been going on since ancient times, and it was especially severe at the end of the Ming dynasty. Well-known examples include the Donglin Party, the Eunuch Party, the Zhejiang Party, and the Kunshan Party, among others...

  There are many reasons for the emergence of factions within a party, but ultimately they all boil down to competing for more discourse power and political resources, in order to gain more benefits for the interest groups they represent.

  At present, during the Zhengde years, thanks to the clean governance of the Xiaozong court, factional divisions are not that serious, but they can still be found. For example, Cao Yuan and Liang Shu privately called Li Dongyang their teacher, and in public affairs, they were Li Dongyang's staunch supporters, so the three of them could also be considered a faction. Another example is the tacit understanding between Mao Wenju of the Ministry of War and the two commanders of the Five Armies Command Center, which can also be seen as a kind of factional phenomenon.

  Now in the great hall of Tianxiang Building, the people of Guozijian Tianban proposed to establish a faction or organization, which is absolutely not a simple matter.

  It's worth noting that the family backgrounds of these individuals are extremely deep-rooted, with almost every household having a prominent figure in the imperial court of the Ming dynasty. Moreover, most people here are third-generation descendants of officials, and their fathers were also officials in the imperial court; even if they weren't officials, they were still incredibly wealthy. The complex web of relationships involved is truly difficult to describe.

  Jiang Xia dared to say that if the Tianban crowd really formed a faction, then this faction would inevitably become the first object of the emperor's elimination when it matured, because this faction was simply too terrifying, its energy had already grown to the point where it could threaten the emperor's throne.

  Of course, Jiang Xia would never say this out loud. He had always understood that the magnitude of risk is often directly proportional to the gain. What he needs to do now is to properly guide this fledgling faction, striving to minimize the risks while maximizing the gains.

  Mentioning the union of an organization, everyone in the team became excited, especially after experiencing today's events they realized that there were many things that could be done when everyone came together.

  When it comes to organizing, the first two things to do are to decide on a name and to decide on a leader.

  Everyone temporarily didn't mention the leader's matter, but instead they were chattering and guessing names.

  Some say it's called "Fierce Tiger", sounds domineering. Some say it's called "Ten Thousand Taels", symbolizing wealth. Others say it's called "Heavenly Class", which has a certain commemorative significance. But after all the discussion, no one could think of a suitable name, so Wang Wenbo clapped his hands and said: "Alright, alright, let's not argue anymore, the most talented person here is naturally Brother Jiang, let's listen to what good names Brother Jiang has."

  As soon as Wang Wenbo spoke, everyone immediately echoed him. Liang Wenhuan even shouted: "Right, right, I'll listen to Brother Jiang, whatever name Brother Jiang says, I'll support that name."

  "Right, right, right," said Jiang Ge. Everyone chimed in agreement.

  Jiang Xia saw everyone's enthusiasm and smiled slightly. He thought for a moment before saying, "I do have a name in mind, but it's not necessarily good or bad. Let's just discuss it together. I think that since we're from the Heavenly Class and are well taken care of at home, we should strive to become our family's pride. So, I propose that this organization be called 'Tian Jiao'."

  "Tian Jiao?" Everyone muttered to themselves, and then one by one, their eyes lit up. This name sounded both pleasant and domineering, and the young people in Tian Class naturally liked it.

  Liang Wenhan was the first to raise his hand and said: "I support Brother Jiang's name, Tianjiao, it really sounds powerful."

  "Hmm, I think so too." said Wang Wenbo.

  One after another said it was good, so the name was decided like this, called "Tian Jiao".

  The name has been decided, next is to select a leader.

  As soon as this topic was raised, Liang Wenhuan said somewhat displeased: "Does this matter still need to be discussed? Of course it's Brother Jiang, apart from him, I don't think anyone else can do this leadership role."

  "I think so too." Wang Wenbo nodded and said, "Although I've only known Brother Jiang for a day, he has indeed won me over. Not to mention that he is well-versed in both literature and martial arts, with broad knowledge and generous hands. The key is that he is a man of his word, you don't know about it. Earlier at the Five Cities Military Command, that commander wanted to slap me, Brother Jiang didn't say a word and stood up for me, from that moment on I, Wang Wenbo, acknowledged him as my big brother."

  "Me too, Xia Fengchao has also recognized him as his big brother."

  Although it was only one day, Jiang Xia's performance was indeed too dazzling, dazzling to the point of being convincing. Liang Wenhuan, Wang Wenbo, and Xia Fengchou were already the three families with the strongest family background among the Tianban people, and all three chose to support Jiang Xia, so others had even less to say.

  Immediately afterwards, Jiang Hanlin and others also chose to support Jiang Xia, and with this momentum, the people of Tianban also chose to support Jiang Xia.

  Jiang Xia smiled at the crowd and nodded, saying: "I'm very grateful that everyone thinks so highly of me. As Tian Jiao has just been established, I'm a bit older than everyone else, so I'll take the lead position without hesitation. However, this position isn't one that I'll occupy forever; every three years we'll hold a vote to choose again, and if you think I've done a poor job, we can replace me."

  "I just think you're great, Brother Jiang." said Liang Wenhan with a smile.

  Jiang Xia smiled faintly and didn't bring up the topic again. He stood up, bowed to everyone with his fists clenched, and said: "Everyone, perhaps you still don't understand what our 'Tian Jiao' organization represents. Perhaps some of you agreed to establish this organization or joined it just for fun. But I can tell you now that Tian Jiao is not as simple as you think. As for how it will develop in the future, even I can't predict it, and we can only take things one step at a time."

  "Since it's an organization, we should have our own rules and organizational structure. For now, we've only established three rules: First, everyone who joins Tianjiao is a brother, and brothers should share good fortune and bad together; second, we absolutely cannot betray the organization or each other, nor can we have internal conflicts; third, we must keep secrets, this matter is just between us, don't even mention it to family members."

  "Why, Brother Jiang?" asked Jiang Hanlin.

  Jiang Xia said, "Has everyone thought about our name? Tian Jiao, this name means tomorrow's family pride for us, but if it reaches the ears of those with ulterior motives, this name will be in trouble. The so-called Son of Heaven refers to the current emperor. If someone with ulterior motives uses this to frame us, I'm afraid everyone will have trouble."

  "Indeed, indeed, this is enough to stir up a literary inquisition, and we must be careful." Xia Fengchou nodded and said, his grandfather was the Left Censor of the Ducha Yuan, and he had to understand these kinds of problems deeply.

  "Why can't we just change the name?" Liang Wennan said somewhat dazedly.

  Wang Wenbo knocked his head and shook it, saying: "This is not a matter of changing names at all, but our organization is too eye-catching. Think about it, which person in our organization can't make waves in the capital when they go out? United together will definitely be envied by others, so no matter what name we change to, those who want to deal with us will think of ways to deal with us."

  Jiang Xia looked at Wang Wenbo with appreciation, and Wang Wenbo was a person whose thoughts were much more meticulous. He could see that this link represented that this kid was a material that could be cultivated.

  "Alright, let's agree on this, neither of us will mention it again." said Liang Wenhuan.

  The people in the heavenly class also echoed one after another.

  Due to the inconvenient location today, not much can be done for the time being. Everyone agreed to gather at Chunfeng Building tomorrow and discuss the specific details of Tianjiao. After settling these matters, the crowd began to drink freely. There were twenty-eight people present, including Jiang Xia, and it was these twenty-eight people who formed the embryonic form of Tianjiao.

  The night was deep, and the people of the heavenly class each left on their own. The guards from various families who were guarding outside the Heavenly Fragrance Building also took their young masters back home. Jiang Xia stumbled out of the Heavenly Fragrance Building, and every person who left did not forget to bid farewell. Even Liang Wenhuan, who was already drunk and unconscious, kept saying: "Brother Jiang, I'm leaving, don't forget tomorrow, Spring Breeze Building, Spring Breeze..."

  Jiang Xia waved goodbye to everyone, and after seeing that they had all left, he stood at the entrance of Tianxiang Building, looking around. He was also a bit drunk, standing by the side of the road, waving his hand non-stop and shouting: "Taxi... taxi..."

  "Whoa!" Along with the sound of reining in a horse, a carriage came to a stop in front of Jiang Xia.

  "Hey? Is this Rome? Why did I call a taxi and get a horse-drawn carriage?"

  Zhong Bin glanced at Jiang Xia, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, clearly finding the drunken Jiang Xia a bit of a nuisance. However, he couldn't just ignore him, so he jumped down from the carriage to support Jiang Xia.

  "Hey handsome, why are you wearing ancient clothes? Are you filming a movie? Where's the camera?"

  "If you get drunk again, I'll knock you out!" Zhong Bin warned coldly, unaware that his words immediately provoked Jiang Xia.

  "Hit me?" Jiang Xia immediately opened up, imitating Bruce Lee's mannerisms and posturing: "I'll use my kung fu skills, you come try to hit me!"

  Zhong Bin shook his head helplessly and sighed softly before muttering to himself: "You forced me to do this."

  After finishing speaking, Zhong Bin walked towards Jiang Xia and his hand was just about to reach the back of Jiang Xia's neck to knock him out with a palm strike. Suddenly, Jiang Xia's stomach churned and he opened his mouth, spewing out a face full of filthy vomit all over Zhong Bin's face.

  Silence! Stillness!

  Dead silence!

  Dead silence!

  "Ahh!!!" A furious roar tore through the night sky, "Jiang Xia, I'm going to kill..."

  Zhong Bin had only just said "kill you" when he turned his head to look over and saw that Jiang Xia was already lying on the ground, sleeping sweetly.