Daming talker

Chapter 653: Nine Yuan True Immortal Possession
This afternoon, officials from various ministries and agencies were not in the mood to work. They were all talking and digesting the shocking gossip revealed in two secret letters from the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister.

The content of the secret memorial alone is very explosive, not to mention the fact that it was exposed is itself full of suspense.

But when the officials were discussing enthusiastically, new big news came from the inner court.

Zhao Si from the cabinet angrily denounced Wang San for being "despicable and having no bottom line" and "breaking the rules". Relying on his youth and strength, Wang San attacked Zhao Si.

A fight almost broke out in Wenyuan Pavilion, but fortunately it was stopped by the Zhongshu Sheren who was present.

The cabinet's fun-filled activities shocked the outer court officials. Who could have imagined that two respectable and honorable university scholars would fight face to face?

Shen Da and Wang Er were both exposed, and Wang San and Zhao Si also started fighting. Can this cabinet still function?

You know, if Shen Da and Wang Er step down, Wang San and Zhao Si will be the future first and second assistants.

As a result, the future Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have already started fighting before they even took office.

As to whether Wang San was furious and humiliated, many people were skeptical. Now everything was very strange and no one dared to confirm the truth.

As the weather turned cold near the end of the year, Emperor Wanli moved from the Qianqing Palace, where heating was difficult, to the Yude Palace.

Sun Xian, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the commander of the Eastern Depot, kowtowed repeatedly and pleaded with the emperor, "Sun Yong has committed a heinous crime. His crime is unforgivable. I only beg Your Majesty to spare his life!"

Emperor Wanli had a blank expression on his face, but he consoled Sun Xian: "You are all my close ministers, how can I not care for you?
The leakage of the secret memorial this time mainly involved foreign officials, so it was not easy to keep quiet.

So you should first detain Sun Yong and take good care of him, and then decide how to forgive him when the situation becomes clear."

Sun Xian could only express his gratitude first, as this was the best situation at the moment.

Emperor Wanli looked at the other eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department and asked, "Who is willing to investigate this matter?"

Investigating cases is usually the responsibility of the Eastern Depot, but this time it involves Sun Yong, the godson of the depot master Sun Xian, so the depot master Sun needs to avoid suspicion and is not suitable to come forward.

But none of the other eunuchs said a word, and they did not show any sign of competing for credit as usual.

So the Wanli Emperor personally appointed Chen Ju, the fourth eunuch in the Imperial Household Department, and said, "You go to the secretariat and investigate!"

Chen Ju stepped forward to receive the order and smiled bitterly in his heart.

Nothing in the world is more absurd than this. It was here last night that the emperor ordered me to do something small.

Today, the emperor asked me to investigate this matter again. What kind of thing is this? The thief crying "stop thief"?

The saddest thing about being a eunuch is that there is absolutely no possibility of refusing or opposing the emperor's will.

If a civil official doesn't want to work anymore, he can just quit and run away, but if a eunuch doesn't want to work anymore, he can only die.

In the Shen Mansion, Shen Yongmao looked at his father Shen Shixing and dared not breathe.

From the time the news was delivered to now, his father has been sitting still for half an hour. Shen Yongmao has never seen his father like this before.

Fearing that his father would choke and die, Shen Yongmao had no choice but to call him softly a few times.

“Hahaha.” Prime Minister Shen suddenly laughed, “The books always talk about wise rulers and virtuous ministers. What a joke.”

Shen Yongmao cautiously asked, "Is it really as Lin Tailai guessed?"

Shen Shixing said sadly: "Someone wants to force me to be Yan Song."

How did Yan Song become the Prime Minister? He was obedient to the emperor and fawned on him without any bottom line.

Whatever the emperor wanted to do, they would help him and bear the blame; if the emperor did something bad, they would stand in front and take the blame first.

Thinking of this, Shen Yongmao couldn't help but exclaimed: "Father, don't do that!"

What kind of reputation did Yan Song and his son have? It's no exaggeration to say that they will be infamous for thousands of years!

Prime Minister Shen slammed the table and said, "Why not?"

Although the Shen Mansion is deserted today and no outsiders come to visit, even Shen Shixing's followers do not dare to come.

But elsewhere, there were countless gatherings of officials in Xicheng tonight, and it had even reached the point where no one was avoiding suspicion. Perhaps it no longer made sense to avoid suspicion or not.

Left Censor-in-Chief Lu Guangzu, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Liu Yukui, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Sun Yu, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Yang Junmin and other core figures of the Qingliu Party and the Shanxi Gang visited Wang Jiaping's mansion together.

This unexpected accident disrupted all plans, and everyone talked about it for a long time.

Overall, everyone tends to be optimistic about the situation. After all, it is the political opponents who are embarrassed and unlucky.

Wang Jiaping looked at the others and reminded them, "The first and second assistants are not worth mentioning, but Zhao Zhigao is a cause for concern."

Lu Guangzu hesitated for a while, then said, "There are no outsiders here. Prime Minister Wang, can you tell us the truth? Is the leak of the secret decree related to you?"

Wang Jiaping: “.”

This is outrageous. How can even one's own people doubt oneself?

But the explanation still needed to be given, and Wang Sange Lao said very firmly: "It has nothing to do with me!"

Then he gave his own analysis, "The leak of this secret memorial should be due to a mistake made by the eunuchs in the secretarial office."

Everyone believed the judgment of Lord Wang San. If there was no problem on the cabinet side, then the problem could only lie with the eunuch in the secretariat.

Hundreds of imperial edicts and memorials are sent back and forth every day, so it is normal for a mistake to occur. It just happened that the first and second assistants were unlucky this time. Lu Guangzu couldn't help but sighed: "We have been fighting with Shen Wumen for many years, but we have never been able to do anything to him.

But I didn't expect that Shen Wumen would step down because of such an accidental incident. It can be said that fate is playing tricks on people."

Then he said to Wang Jiaping: "Zhao Zhigao is obviously trying to stir up trouble. If Prime Minister Wang pays attention to Zhao Zhigao, he will be in trouble.

The more you argue about sewage without any evidence, the more confusing it becomes. The more you argue about it, the hotter it gets. It is better to just deal with it coldly.

In addition, let several imperial censors impeach Zhao Zhigao for being a sycophant to the Prime Minister, and tie Zhao Zhigao to the notorious Shen Shixing, criticizing them as the same kind, in order to counter Zhao Zhigao! "

Liu Yukui, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, asked Lu Guangzu again: "The chief censor is the most experienced and prudent, what should we do now?"

After careful consideration, Lu Guangzu instructed: "At this time, we must keep our composure and not be too aggressive.

What we should do is just these 16 words: observe calmly, keep our footing, deal with it calmly, and make some achievements. "

Everyone said: "This is a very good saying!"

After all, the "enemy" had "self-destructed", so they just had to go with the flow and didn't need to do anything else.

When many officials were connecting with each other, Zhao Zhigao, the fourth assistant minister who should have been a central figure, was sitting alone in his own hall.

This lucky old man, who was thought to be about to become the second prime minister, actually had a home as deserted as that of Prime Minister Shen who blew himself up.

It’s not that no one came to visit or meet Zhao’s house, but that they were all rejected by Zhao Zhigao.

Old man Zhao felt that he didn't need these ignorant little idiots to join in the fun for the time being.

Nowadays in the capital, few people know the truth.

What’s even better is that no one knows that you have seen through the truth, and this is your greatest advantage.

Old man Zhao still felt that his mind was unprecedentedly calm, and he had a mysterious feeling of being the only one sober while everyone else was drunk.

Could it be that this was Lin Jiuyuan's state when he encountered something? Could it be that he had accidentally learned to invite Lin Jiuyuan's spirit to possess him?

When I looked up, I saw Hu Yinglin, a famous literary critic and fellow villager from Lanxi County, rushing back excitedly from outside.

Next year, Hu Yinglin will go to Beijing to take the exam and will stay at the Zhao Mansion.

"Everyone else outside is running around, why is the old senior so calm?" Hu Yinglin asked in surprise.

Old man Zhao smiled and replied, "Just prepare for the exam and don't worry about those trivial things outside."

In fact, Zhao Zhigao was not just sitting there in a daze. He was waiting for a Zhongshu Sheren, a cabinet Zhongshu Sheren who was insignificant in politics, a humble little man who became Zhongshu Sheren by donating money.

After sending Hu Yinglin away, they waited until almost midnight, when Huang Zhengbin, a secretary of the cabinet, was invited to Zhao's house, but he came in quietly through the side door.

Huang Sheren felt very honored. It was the first time that a big shot valued him, and the first time that a big shot valued him like this.

Even in the political lower-level ecosystem of the Cabinet's Secretariat, he is the one at the bottom.

Most of the others got in through imperial favor, their fathers, grandfathers, uncles were mostly cabinet ministers, chancellors, dukes and the like, but he got in through donations, and was absolutely despised.

But now, at such a critical moment, I am invited to my home by the future Deputy Prime Minister, and I am truly flattered.

Although Zhao Zhigao was an old scoundrel in the eyes of senior officials, he was still a big shot in the eyes of lower-level people.

At this time, the fourth elder Zhao showed respect to the wise and humble, invited Huang Zhengbin to sit down, and said:

"I remember that you were recommended by then-Secretary-General Xu Guo a few years ago and were appointed as the Secretary of the Cabinet? At that time, I was still in the Ministry of Personnel."

Huang Zhengbin replied cautiously: "Indeed."

He and Xu Guo were from the same hometown of Huizhou. After he made some money in business, he began to think about becoming an official.

Then he used the back door of the State of Xu and became the Secretary of the Cabinet by donating money.

But I didn't expect that I would still be looked down upon. The chain of contempt within the officialdom is even more serious than that among the people.

Especially after his backer Xu Guo was dismissed from office, his life became even more difficult.

Zhao Zhigao asked again, "I heard that you often complain about the world. You are often ashamed of being an official because of wealth, and you are often worried about not being able to make a name for yourself in the world?"

Huang Zhengbin felt that he had been seen through, and didn't know what to say, so he bowed and said, "Please give me some advice, Lord!"

Zhao Zhigao then said, "Now that Prime Minister Shen has been involved in a scandal, isn't it the right time for you to be the first to impeach and expose him?
You work in the cabinet, so you definitely know more about things than those censors, so your power and reputation must be greater than those censors.

By then, everyone will praise you for upholding justice and having integrity. By the way, you can also vent your anger for your excluded fellow countryman Xu Ge Lao, so why not do it? "

After receiving the instructions, Huang Zhengbin suddenly understood everything and said goodbye with great gratitude.

On the other hand, this might be the future deputy prime minister's plan to cultivate his confidants in the cabinet, and I, who have no backing, was chosen.

Zhao Zhigao watched Huang Sheren leave, but it was as if he was watching a dead person.

No one could guess what the cabinet mascot, who had hypnotized himself into thinking he was possessed by the Nine Yuan True Immortal, was going to do.

(End of this chapter)