A major case ended almost silently.
It’s the end of October.
After Zhang Zhou returned to the capital, he never appeared in the court, and the ministers almost forgot about this person.
Zhu Youtang would only hold a court meeting every three to five days. For him, he seemed to be lazy about government affairs. He would rather leave everything to others, while he continued to do it for eternity. The dream of an emperor.
At this time, Zhu Youtang was only thinking about how to pacify the grassland, but his physical condition was no better than before.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to go to court. Sometimes it’s because he is sick, especially in autumn and winter. The illness lasts for a period of time. Sometimes he drags his sick body to go to court, and then he has to rest for a few days or even It's more than half a month.
In this case, Zhu Youtang seems to have begun to make some "successor" calculations.
On this day, he summoned Zhang Zhou to the palace and talked to Zhang Zhou about the idea of letting Zhu Houzhao manage politics in Wenhua Palace.
"I know that the prince is still young and does not understand many things. Moreover, he is very willful. He has not even learned the things in the book, which means he has not learned to walk. He has to learn to run. Yes. It's a bit difficult."
Zhu Youtang coughed twice and said, "But I always feel that he still has talent. With Bingkuan, you may be able to make him early. He has the ability to become a qualified prince."
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty has good intentions. Although the prince is still young, he is also smart and can understand many things at once."
Zhu Youtang waved his hand and said: "It depends on what it is. If it involves fighting and killing, he likes it very much, but when it comes to running the country, how to allocate money and food, or even maintaining the stability of the government, he lacks I don’t know how he developed his temperament.”
Zhang Zhou thought to himself, isn’t this the same as you?
You two, father and son, have many similarities. Perhaps the only difference is the environment in which you grew up.
"In a few days, maybe before the end of the year." Zhu Youtang said, "Let him listen to politics in the Wenhua Hall for a few times. I will go there in person. You stay with him and don't let him show up for the time being. , if something happens, you can give him some guidance behind his back."
The implication is.
Several special court meetings will be arranged before the year, and the emperor and ministers will speak in front of the Wenhua Hall, while Zhang Zhou and Zhu Houzhao will eavesdrop in the back.
Probably, Zhang Zhou was allowed not to go to court because of this consideration, so that one day, Zhang Zhou could serve as an auxiliary minister and teach the prince.
At that time, others will not know that there is Zhang Zhou hiding behind him. If Zhu Houzhao does not understand something, he can ask him immediately and get the best explanation.
......
......
Zhu Youtang and Zhang Zhou had lunch together, and then Zhu Youtang asked someone to go to the Wenhua Hall to spread the message. Let the Donggong lecturer leave first in the afternoon.
Meaning.
Let Zhang Zhou teach Zhu Youtang a lesson.
Before going, Zhu Youtang specifically told Zhang Zhou that Zhu Xiurong was also in the Wenhua Hall, meaning that this time you will not only teach my son, but also my daughter.
As for what to teach, it’s up to you. Anyway, I am responsible for giving birth to them, and you are responsible for teaching them.
Zhang Zhou walked to the Wenhua Palace accompanied by Yang Peng, and Yang Peng also took the opportunity to mention to Zhang Zhou the results of the previous court corruption case, but there was one person... not even Yang Peng himself. The easy one to deal with is Li Dongyang’s younger brother Li Dongming.
"It was found that he received 1,600 taels. If we add some benefits that were not received on the table, such as calligraphy and painting, the market price is probably more than 2,000 taels. Altogether, about It’s four thousand taels.”
Yang Peng said, “According to other officials, he should at least be a border guard. If he collects money without paying attention to the law, he may be sentenced to death.”< /p>
What Yang Peng means is, just watch.
Zhang Zhou asked: "Where is the person?"
"I asked him several times, and once...he was tortured, and the longest he was detained at one time was six or seven days. He is still recuperating at home, and occasionally he will send people to ask him about the case. At first, he seemed to refuse to cooperate because of the support of Mr. Li Ge, but now... basically he will answer whatever he asks..."
When Yang Peng said this, there was a chuckle on his face.
You mean, look how well I manage those literati?
Zhang Zhou asked: "Someone said hello to Dongchang and Jinyiwei because of his affairs?"
"No." Yang Peng said, "Not even Mr. Li Ge said anything. The official became even more silent. This case was too big, and His Majesty sent people to investigate. In the end, the case was handed over to the Ministry of Punishment or Dali Temple. The outcome of the case would be clear at a glance. , That's asking for trouble."
Zhang Zhou said: "But I heard that some people still came out to declare that the case should not be expanded."
Yang Peng. He smiled and said: "Now the case has been investigated at the level of the minister. Li Shishi, the right minister of the Ministry of Justice, has been sent to prison. In addition... the right minister of the Ministry of War... has not taken action yet. I am also waiting for your intervention. "
Zhang Zhou asked: "There is no movement from the Ministry of Finance?"
"No," Yang Peng said, "According to your majesty, we can only find the minister or the minister. On the level of the temple minister, the minister can't move."
The implication is that we also want to take down Zhong Zhong, but we can't do it yet.
After all, the two current ministers of the Ministry of Revenue, the left minister Lu Wan and the right minister Tang Yin, are your people. The investigation of this case will not touch your head for the time being.
Zhang Zhou said: "Is the household department really okay?"
"This..." Yang Peng was very confused, "Sir, you also know some things well. , Why bother to ask even if you know it? Even if it is reported to His Majesty, it is not easy to investigate. "
This time with iron blood and cold face.Yang Peng, who is known for his ruthlessness, also encountered trouble with the household investigation department.
Obviously there are some people that even Yang Peng thinks he shouldn’t touch.
Zhang Zhou knew very well that this person was talking about Lu Wan.
As someone in his camp, Wang Qiong, at least until now, seems to be very cautious and has not exposed any flaws for others to catch.
But Lu Wan is different...
Lu Wan actively accumulated his reputation and connections in the court, and soon established his own crony system, although it was not yet a mature one. , but there is no lack of a group of people who are just like flies and dogs.
Zhang Zhou also understood very well that Lu Wan and Wang Qiong were both tolerated by the traditional civil servants in history. It does not mean that they are not good people, but that they do have some bad deeds... ...just like Wang Yue.
It is true that Wang Yue is very capable, but it would be too biased to say that Wang Yue is a completely gentleman.
To put it bluntly, both Wang Qiong and Lu Wan are well versed in the traditional way of civil servants, which is to form cliques.
It’s just that Lu Wan seems to be stronger in this regard, and Wang Qiong may also be because he has served in the three sides for a period of time, and now he seems to be very low-key after returning to the court... He is also on the same page with Lu Wan. When he was in office, the power of the Shangting Department reached its peak, and he could compete with the cabinet, and even personally led the incident that brought down Xie Qian.
Lu Wan is the person Yang Peng doesn’t want to mention at the moment.
……
……
In the Wenhua Hall.
Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Xiurong had already known that Zhang Zhou was coming.
The brother and sister had prepared desks and benches in advance. After sitting down, they waited for Zhang Zhou to start class.
"Imperial sister, I will make a bet with you first. I will ask my husband to test us on a military question later. Didn't you say that you also learned well? Let's compare. If you lose, in the future, What do you think if you leave Wenhua Hall and find a female teacher to teach you?"
Zhu Houzhao is playing tricks on his sister.
Zhu Xiurong asked curiously: "Has my coming to study affected you, the emperor? Why did you drive me away?"
Zhu Houzhao said: "You are a girl. , Why are you studying so many Four Books and Five Classics? Besides, can you understand what the teacher is teaching? Don’t think I don’t know. You just hide behind the screen and fold paper cranes. Is that interesting? " /p>
"It's interesting." Zhu Xiurong said, "I like folding paper cranes, right? Besides, I didn't miss the class."
"Then you didn't learn anything before, Do you understand? If you can't keep up, you might as well go back and find a teacher to teach you. Why do you have to fight with me here?"
Zhu Houzhao looked very unhappy.
Obviously I am the protagonist of Wenhua Palace. These gentlemen are speaking for me alone, but now there is a follower next to me who has been eavesdropping and will even tell me what happened here. parents.
Although you can say that you don’t know how to speak, if your fatherIf your mother asks, you will definitely answer truthfully.
Do I need more than one superintendent in class that I can’t control myself?
Zhu Xiurong said: "No, you can't control me if I learn from you."
Zhu Houzhao said with a proud look on his face: "Then you don't dare to compete? I'll just say , You have learned everything carelessly, and you are still pretending."
Zhu Xiurong asked: "Is this a provocation?"
"What? I don’t dare to compete, what is the method of provoking generals, or are you a general? If I really want to drive you away, I can just tell my father that you are disturbing my study. In fact, I am giving you a chance. Haven't you always wanted to prove yourself? Little girl, you never have a chance to beat me." Zhu Houzhao looked embarrassed.
Zhu Xiurong thought for a while, nodded and said: "Okay. I can compete with you, but I have agreed first. If you lose, I will choose whatever you want."
p>Zhu Houzhao said: "Have you ever stolen all my things?"
"That's not stealing!" Zhu Xiurong wanted to argue, and then said, "Then let's talk about it first , I will take away all your military maps, don't blame me."
"What do you want with those maps?" Zhu Houzhao was a little anxious after hearing this.
Zhu Xiurong said with a leisurely look: "If you don't let me attend the lecture, of course I have to take away the things you care about, which is only fair. Besides, later you talk about military competition, then if you If you lose, are you still useful for the map? Why don't you take it back and study it carefully? Brother Huang, you won't dare to do it, right?"
"You...you..."< /p>
Zhu Houzhao’s face turned red with anger.
Gao Feng next to him quickly wanted to remind him, Prince, we can’t fall into the trap.
It was you who said before that you should not be swayed by provocative tactics. Now your sister is counterattacking you. It would be pointless for you to be fooled.
Zhu Houzhao said: "It's a competition! I don't believe it. How can you, a little girl, beat me?"
Zhu Xiurong said with a smile: "Of course the outcome is not up to you. The final say is, let Mr. Zhang decide the outcome, and we must answer each other's questions. We cannot let Mr. Zhang know who wrote it. It would be best if someone else transcribes it, so we don't know."
"What do you mean?" Zhu Houzhao was a little surprised.
I said to myself, what is this little girl thinking about?
Zhu Xiurong said: "I heard that if you want to take the imperial examination, you have to copy the papers. Today I am comparing my knowledge with you, the emperor. Of course, I have to be fair. Brother, I am thinking about you too. , you don’t want to be said that you can’t win with force, right? Besides, wouldn’t it be harmful to you to use more fair methods than real talent?”
Zhu Houzhao curled his lips and said: “That’s right. As if you are very powerful, let’s compete. If you lose, don’t cry! Then go back to your inner palace. I will be annoyed when I see you.”
..." Zhu Xiurong played tricks on Zhu HouzhaoFace.
……
……
The relationship between brother and sister is full of tension.
After waiting for a long time, Zhu Houzhao even asked people to go out to see it a few times. He almost wanted to be urged. It was not until the sun set that he saw Zhang Zhou walking forward with very slow steps. Go to the Wenhua Hall.
"Sir, why are you here? We have been waiting for you for a long time."
Zhu Xiurong said first.
Zhang Zhou then looked at the two younger ones.
Zhu Houzhao... still looks like a dead man.
As for Zhu Xiurong, with her ponytail, she already looks like a little adult, and between her frown and smile, there is a slight resemblance between Zhu Xiurong and Zhu Houzhao.
This will make Zhang Zhou think about it. It is said that these two children were not born to Queen Zhang, but it seems that they should be born to her, or... they are born from the same mother. It's just that who the mother is... I haven't even found out the secrets of the palace yet.
"You two."
Zhang Zhou said, walked to the lesson plan and sat down.
Zhu Houzhao suddenly jumped up and said: "Hello, teacher."
Zhu Xiurong was startled, looked at his lunatic brother, and said: "Brother, what are you doing? You scared me to death. "
Zhu Houzhao said: "Don't you understand? This is called respecting teachers."
Zhu Xiurong frowned and said: "When I was talking to those officials in the morning. I’ve never seen you respect teachers so much.”
“Humph.” Zhu Houzhao turned around and said, “Don’t you understand? Those gentlemen don’t care about this, but Mr. Zhang in front of you is the most particular. What a formalism, yes, that’s what he said. It seems you are not his student, so just give up, little princess, and come back after a few more years."
"Hello, teacher! !" Zhu Xiurong was unwilling to admit defeat and stood up to salute Zhang Zhou.
Zhang Zhou frowned and said: "What are you doing?"
Zhu Houzhao said: "Sir, that's it. I have already discussed it with the imperial sister, and we are going to have a fair fight today. The competition involves not only winning and losing, but also high and low, and there are still bets. What we are comparing is our knowledge in military marching, which is what you usually teach... Please sir, be our examiner, and be the examiner. Call the referee."
Zhu Xiurong said: "What is a referee?"
Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "As the name implies, the referee is the person who makes the decision. Who is higher and who is lower is decided by the referee. Of course, for the sake of fairness, we decided to answer in the form of a written test, and after completion, someone will need to transcribe the paper and then hand it over to the teacher for review. "The recent transcoding has made us more motivated and updated faster, sorry to trouble you. Move your little hands to exit reading mode. Thank you