The group of people walked toward the palace gate in a mighty manner.
Many people came out to watch along the way. As a martial artist, Zhang Zhou had to ride a horse, while the civil servants either rode in sedans or carriages.
All the way to the Huitong Pavilion, when it was time to settle Li Yi, Lin Han called Zhang Zhou aside and explained to Zhang Zhou what he knew about the situation, "Be careful these days. The officials in the court do not care about your opinions." "Little."
Zhang Zhou pretended to be confused and asked curiously, "Do the officials think that I have done something good by interfering in North Korea's internal affairs in Liaodong?"
Lin Han just sighed and said it. But I don’t know how to discuss it in depth.
Could you tell Zhang Zhou that everyone is planning to impeach you together, and even roped me in?
The conversation has not started yet, but Shen Lu is here on behalf of Xu Qiong. Asking Zhang Zhou to go aside, Shen Lu smiled and said, "You have worked hard all the way, Duke Lai Guo. After you enter the palace, I will accompany you. You can talk to me clearly if you have anything to say on the way. It's all Xu Shangshu wants to say but can't bring it up openly." "
Lin Han didn't move away either. He probably heard the conversation and glanced over.
Zhang Zhou deliberately raised his voice so that Lao Lin could hear his inner voice, "If a man can sit upright and is not afraid of criticism from others, then I'll take the trouble to lead the way."
< p> As the Minister of Rites, Xu Qiong seems to be enthusiastic about Zhang Zhou, but many things that require direct expression of opinions are not carried out in person. Shen Lu is probably Xu Qiong's mouthpiece, representing Xu Qiong's opinions.Although Zhang Zhou and Shen Lu entered the palace, they were both foreign ministers, but one was a close minister trusted by the emperor, and the other was Empress Zhang's "uncle". They were not considered outsiders in the palace, and even led the way. The eunuchs could only stay away from each other, for fear of disturbing the conversation between the two.
"Does Duke Lai Guogong know about Minister Lin's appointment as Minister of Rites?" Shen Lu asked with a smile.
"Yes." Zhang Zhou nodded, "I have heard a little bit, but this matter has not been discussed by the court, so I am afraid it cannot be done accurately."
Shen Lu said, "Since your Majesty, If you agree, there won’t be much difference in the outcome of the court meeting. Both the court and the government are convinced of Hengda’s character and ability, but I don’t know what kind of errands your Majesty wants to arrange for you.”
Zhang Zhou asked curiously. He said, "My errand has been agreed upon. You want me to take part in it and be an idler." Going around in circles and so on, but Zhang Zhou made it clear when he came up, and he seemed very uncomfortable with it.
"Shen Yintai, if you have something to say, just say it." Zhang Zhou said with a smile.
Shen Lu considered the words for a moment and said, "I heard that the court has been criticizing you a lot recently. You came from the imperial examination, but you entered the palace with alchemy. You often use weird methods when doing things. Your Majesty's trust comes first, which is considered to be the root of chaos in the country. Don't blame them for being harsh on you."
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Then I should accept their criticism calmly."
Shen Lu was startled. He also found that talking to Zhang Zhou was not like talking to those legendary people.Tong Wenchen generally needs to be precise in his conversations, but what he has been used to all his life is the tortuous things of Wenchen, and now it is his turn and he is not used to it.
Zhang Zhou said, "Don't worry, Shen Yintai. If others think that I am in the government and opposition parties, blocking their way, then I will retreat bravely."
"What"
Shen Lu was shocked.
You kid actually wants to "retreat bravely". This is not our intention. Unfortunately, we still regard you as a benchmark and prepare to use you to form a new faction and follow your lead.
But you want to avoid it
No one has achieved the status today, but you want to avoid the war
"Uh, Mr. Lai Guo, you You should know that being an official in the court means retreating if you don't advance. If you take a step back, there may be an abyss behind you. "Shen Lu was reminding Zhang Zhou, you have to fight to the death.
The emperor supports you, and now even among the civil servant factions, we can help you twist out a rope, and no one can pull you up
As long as you gain power, the government and the opposition will The order will change. This is what many people want to see. Those who have been suppressed by traditional civil servants for half their lives will finally have the opportunity to rise to the top.
Zhang Zhou said, "The abyss means that some people still want to put me to death."
Shen Lu hesitated for a moment and said, "Death may not be possible, but I will exile you to this place." It is not impossible for you to face the saint in other places, and even use the imperial edict to punish you for those magic words."
Zhang Zhou smiled, his expression indifferent.
He was thinking that this was really the same as in history when civil servants and military officials united to deal with the "Eight Tigers" when Zhu Houzhao first came to the throne.
But everyone has seen the result.
Even though Zhu Houzhao was just a young man with a junior throne, he still had the upper hand in the battle between the imperial power and his ministers, not to mention that Zhu Youtang has now thoroughly studied the imperial power.
If you want to rely on the method of directly admonishing the offender to solve the problem, the civil servants may not know what the emperor is most afraid of his ministers.
Zhang Zhou said, "Then I should be more careful. The advancement or retreat is often not decided by myself. I'll let you know after meeting the saint."
"You"
Shen Luben also wanted to talk to Zhang Zhou about the alliance, but seeing Zhang Zhou's "careless" look, he didn't even care about being impeached and attacked, and he didn't seem to realize it. As if "a disaster is imminent", Shen Lu was both anxious and wondering if he had chosen the wrong person
Outside Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Youtang arrived at the entrance of the palace early. He was also anxious to meet Zhang Zhou and did not sit and wait inside.
"Your Majesty, it has been reported that Duke Lai Guo has entered the palace. Why not go back to the palace and wait. It is a bit hot." Xiao Jing persuaded from the side.
Zhu Youtang said, "I'm not standing in the sun, and I don't feel how hot it is. Is that Bingkuan?"
Xiao Jing looked up and said, "No. ,answerIt’s time for people passing by. "
"Send someone to take a look."
Zhu Youtang was anxious.
Xiao Jing hurriedly sent a young eunuch to Fengtian Hall to greet him. In order to know as soon as possible when Zhang Zhou would arrive,
Finally, Zhang Zhou and Shen Lu arrived, and Zhu Youtang walked down the steps and took the initiative to greet the guests.
"I, Zhang Zhou, see Your Majesty. "Zhang Zhou saluted.
Zhu Youtang said hurriedly, "Bingkuan, we are already here, why are you so polite? You are also walking around Shen Qing's house. ”
As he said that, Zhu Youtang came over to pull him away.
Shen Lu had never seen the emperor in this form, and he was a little stunned. He was still doubtful before. Did he choose the wrong comrade in the alliance? At this moment, he seemed to feel that he really chose the right person in choosing Zhang Zhou.
The person who can shake up the traditional civil servant power must be Zhang Zhou.
In the Qianqing Palace.
Zhang Zhouxian probably explained to the emperor the detailed process of his trip to the north, focusing on the details of the iron mine opening in Yongping Prefecture.
Zhu Youtang listened. After finishing it, he said with great satisfaction, "I also saw that it was reported to the local government. You have only been there for less than half a year, and even only worked there for a month or two. You can almost double the pig iron production of Ming Dynasty. I didn't expect it." Ah, with such a capable minister, why worry about the uneven grassland and the unrest in our country?"
"Your Majesty is ridiculously complimenting me. "Zhang Zhou actually seemed very humble.
Shen Lu on the side was a little confused.
Didn't he say that Zhang Zhou went to Liaodong to fight? By the way, he also solved the internal affairs of North Korea. Why did the topic change now and directly mention mining?
What is the concept of nearly doubling the iron ore
One person can produce a Ming Dynasty's iron
< p>Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "The war in Liaodong is not important. You have been there for so long, but you are always delaying. People say you are delaying the war. I don't even bother to fight with them." I have agreed with you a long time ago that we must fight steadily in Liaodong, and we must not act too hastily. As you expected, the Jurchens are now retreating steadily, and most of them have surrendered. The rest depends on how Uncle Xin Xin ends up. ”Shen Lu said hurriedly, “Your Majesty, Duke Lai Guo deserves a generous reward for his meritorious service. "
"Shen Qing's family, how can I not know Bingkuan's meritorious service, but he is now the Duke of the country, how can I reward him?" Zhu Youtang took out something and said, "I asked someone to I recently searched around the capital to see if there is any suitable land to give you. There are 400 hectares of fertile land around Shuntian Prefecture, and 1,400 hectares of farmland around Yongping Prefecture will also be given to you. ”
Zhang Zhou said, “Your Majesty, I feel ashamed to receive this.” ”
“Why are you still ashamed? I feel ashamed of you. For such a great contribution, you are only rewarded with a few acres. Is this a big reward?” Zhu Youtang seemed very polite.< /p>
Shen Lu on the side almost cried with greed.
More than a thousand hectares of land were rewarded in this way, which was only seen by two people before.However, it happened that those two people also had the surname Zhang.
Zhu Youtang said, "In addition, I have prepared tens of thousands of Lianghuai and Changlu Salt Yin for you, which can be regarded as a total expense for you."
Neither. I said it was a reward, and I just said it would be used for your expenses, which is probably the same as giving it to you to supplement your household income.
Zhang Zhou said, "Your Majesty, as a minister, if you do that thing of occupying a nest, I am afraid that you will be criticized by the officials in the court, and you will definitely be impeached."
" What I have given is not much, so why don't I give it to others if they want it?" When Zhu Youtang heard the words about others wanting to participate in the impeachment, he immediately got angry.
Shen Lu smiled and said, "Mr. Lai Guo, this is your majesty's grace, just thank you."
Zhang Zhou said, "Then I will accept it first."
Hey.
How polite.
I told you to accept it, and you really accepted it
Then Zhu Youtang had another family dinner with Zhang Zhou.
I just said that I would keep Zhang Zhou in the palace that night to discuss something. Shen Lu cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have completed my errand, so I will leave now."
"Yes." Zhu Youtang nodded, "As for the Shen Qing family, I'll talk to you in detail later."
Nothing was said in detail, but it seems that Zhu Youtang had an affair with Shen Lu After some communication, in Zhang Zhou's opinion, this may be related to the large-scale involvement of ministers in the DPRK and China in impeaching him.
After Shen Lu resigned, Zhu Youtang and even Xiao Jing and others also resigned.
Now Zhang Zhou also saw what Zhu Youtang meant, and it was time to get to the point.
"Bingkuan." Zhu Youtang walked out from behind the desk, went to the chair below, and sat on the seat given to Shen Lu before. The two of them were on equal terms, "There was a newspaper in the market earlier. I ordered Dongchang to investigate the matter that slandered you, and it was found that it might be related to Zongfan. Then the news was leaked. I also heard that some people in the court wanted to use the folk rumors as an excuse to impeach. You are not the only one participating in the impeachment, but many people I have used in the past few years are involved."
"Alas, their tone is that I used alchemists to govern the country and messed up the Ming Dynasty. The foundation of the country."
Zhu Youtang's face was gloomy, and he wanted to discuss with Zhang Zhou how to counterattack.
Zhang Zhou said, "Your Majesty, if everyone agrees, then I have nothing to say."
Zhu Youtang sighed, "You should also know why this happened today. , it is also because in the past few years, there have been few changes in the ministers of the central court, and this year's group of people have aged, and it is time for them to complete the six-year exam. At this time, they are targeting you just to make their party members not. Influenced by my high regard for you."
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "I can understand their actions. In the past two years, your majesty has indeed valued me more than ordinary ministers."
"That's because of your outstanding ability. If any of them can do so many things for me and Ming Dynasty like you, I can also value and cultivate them, right?" Zhu Youtang was very angry.
Aiming at Zhang Zhou, it is needleTo me, the emperor.
"Bingkuan, I want to scare the monkeys and find out those who are corrupt and bend the law among the civil servants. You will take the lead in investigating. I also have some clues here before. As long as I can find some people, I can intimidate them." Some people, then I can define this in the court as a criticism of you by a young person to avoid being exposed for corruption and perversion of the law." Zhu Youtang said his own strategy.
To put it bluntly, it is to continue to give Zhang Zhou power and let the ministers know that Zhang Zhou is irreplaceable.
It sounded pretty good to Zhang Zhou.
But Zhang Zhou also understood that if this happened, the conflict between Zhang Zhou and traditional civil servants would become a fire and water, and it would not be easy to have any room for maneuver in the future.
There will also be a problem: Zhang Zhou can never replace the Ming bureaucracy. No matter how much the emperor trusts him now, there will always be a time when he and the emperor are estranged, and then there will be three people. Tiger situation.
"Your Majesty, I believe that this will make me unable to stand in the court, which is not advisable." Zhang Zhou said.
Zhu Youtang smiled bitterly and said, "You still want to live in harmony with those people? From the time you entered the court, you haven't noticed that no matter what you do, whether it is right or wrong, they will always treat you Become an alchemist, not a Jinshi. No matter how much credit you have made, they will always find various reasons to deny your credit. Now they are even trying to unite the government and the public to impeach you, no matter how much you give in. Let them treat each other sincerely."
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "It's better to take a step back."
"Oh"
Zhu Youtang looked at it curiously. Zhang Zhou.
Zhang Zhou said, "I have calculated with my fingers. In the next few days, there will be a hail disaster near the capital of the Ming Dynasty. This intention will definitely become the topic of others talking about the disaster. It is better to use Qin Tianjian in advance." Tell my officials and let them use this to impeach me."
"Bingkuan," Zhu Youtang was speechless.
You kid really don’t know how dangerous the world is.
It’s okay if you don’t defend yourself, but you actually want others to use the disaster you speculated to attack you
Zhang Zhou said, “What I should have done in the past two years is basically the same. It's all done. In fact, in the next few years, if I have time to chat and play chess with His Majesty, or even discuss health care together, and teach the prince some knowledge, it doesn't mean much whether I have an official or a title. "
Zhu Youtang thought for a while.
It seems to make sense.
"Bingkuan, don't you want to back down?" Zhu Youtang asked.
Zhang Zhou said with a look of admiration on his face, "Your Majesty, don't you think that if you continue to let me serve as an official like this, if others don't say anything about their opinions, you will still be at the forefront of the storm"
Zhu Youtang said, "You can't follow their wishes. Even if you want to be idle, you absolutely can't let them criticize you. This will make the world think that I really hired the wrong person."
Zhang Zhou said, "You can let me continue.If you advance, or even if you don’t advance or retreat, they will treat me as a thorn in their side, so why not let me help your majesty do more things secretly"
"Secretly"
Zhu Youtang didn’t understand.
Zhang Zhoudao: “I have many things to do, such as seizing the vassal, building ships, and making firearms, and I don’t have to use my current official position to complete it. ”
Zhu Youtang waved his hands and said, “You can’t leave. If there is another war in the border towns, who can I go to? With your power, even the Tatars will not dare to invade again.” ”
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, “I didn’t say I was leaving. In fact, there is one more thing I didn’t say. If I’m not wrong, there may be an earthquake around Shuntian Mansion in less than a month.”
"What"
Zhu Youtang stood up.
An earthquake occurred in Shuntian Mansion. Such an unusual thing could be said to have great impact on the emperor. A warning.
Even if the ground only shakes, the emperor will punish himself.
Zhang Zhou spread his hands and said, "If you wait until then, your Majesty will still be a minister." If you argue with the ministers of the DPRK, your Majesty and the ministers will be very passive. ”
“You”
Zhu Youtang thought for a while.
It’s true.
If the emperor and his ministers are going to Zhang Zhou for It's just a matter of leaving. If there is an earthquake in the capital, the civil servants will have something to say.
The emperor will probably be forced to follow the wishes of those ministers and give Zhang Zhou to him. Pressing down is different from Zhang Zhou taking the initiative to retreat.
Zhu Youtang suddenly seemed to understand something and said, "Bingkuan, see if this can be done. If you retreat, please come forward." As for the memorial, I will agree to let you rest for a while. At this time, there was an earthquake, so I said it was God not wanting me to let down my capable ministers, and it was God’s warning to me. What do you think?”
Zhang Zhou said, “Your Majesty, wouldn’t this be too bad? Okay"
"It's okay. "Zhu Youtang said, "I actually know that they just want to use those disasters and do things to confuse people's hearts so that I will no longer value you. But they forget that you are the one who knows the will of God. Then do the opposite, and I will attack them with disasters. ”
Zhang Zhouzhou looked confused, “Your Majesty, I can take some more time off. There is no need to make things so tense.” ”
Zhu Youtang said coldly, “No matter how much I do, I can’t do it as well as they did. Now that they think of jointly submitting a memorial and putting pressure on me, they should think of the consequences of doing so.” Please discuss the specific details with me, and I will use this hailstorm and earthquake to write a good article." Please remember to bookmark it, the latest and fastest website without anti-theft and free reading