The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youtang is going on a tour, which is not as complicated as his son's future. It seems that Zhu Youtang himself knows that the result of greeting the court is to argue.

With his mature mind, he can completely skip the court and decide where to go on his own, and his purpose is not to go out in a big way to disturb the people, so he only needs to take a small number of people, secretly leave Beijing and go to the port. .

And Zhu Youtang calculated the time.

Go to the port, stay there for a few days, and then come back. It only takes half a month before and after. I just come back in early March, just in time for the release of the test results.

Later, Mu Bin personally led the team, accompanied by Jinyi Guards and Jinwu Guards, and some soldiers from the Beijing camp escorted along the way. The team totaled only a few hundred people. Zhu Youtang left without saying hello to the court. Capital.

The day after Zhu Youtang left, the cabinet learned about Zhu Youtang's departure from the capital through some "small channels."

For Liu Jian, this news is quite shocking.

Previously, it was just that the emperor did not want to discuss court affairs with the cabinet. Now the emperor completely ignored the reaction of the civil servants and left the capital directly. This is not treating the civil and military ministers of the DPRK as human beings, because he left very quickly and without any warning in advance. So much so that the ministers couldn't find a way to persuade him.

Li Dongyang saw Liu Jian's expression and guessed the inner turmoil of the chief minister. He walked over and reminded: "He is going east."

Liu Jiandao: "After this incident, we can't let someone stir up trouble in the court and deceive the military. Even the king's heart will be disturbed by him. How should such a person be placed in the history books?"

This is to remind Li Dongyang that Zhang Zhou is a traitor, and this incident has further confirmed Zhang Zhou's reputation as a traitor.

Li Dongyang said helplessly: "Even if you participate in the impeachment, His Majesty won't listen. Then wait for something to happen. The British Duke returned to the court in the past two days and wanted to see me, but I didn't agree. Do you want to see him?"

"Not yet." Liu Jian's words were more like an order. "Put him aside first and let him feel that the rebels are isolated and helpless. Then he will know what to do next. If we come forward to impeach someone, His Majesty will think that we are In response, doesn’t Your Majesty even care about the opinions of those hereditary ministers? "

"It's hard to say." Li Dongyang continued to shake his head helplessly.

The emperor's tour this time also had a great impact on the morale of the civil servants.

Now the emperor has completely put aside the civil servants, and the discord between the emperor and his ministers has become very wide.

Liu Jiandao: "After this incident, there is no need to worry about face and decency. Just do whatever you want. If the imperial court is in chaos because of one person, then no matter what, we cannot let this person continue to harm the imperial court. It is time to show some attitude. ”

Li Dongyang said: "But it is still a bit far-fetched in the eyes of many people to blame Zhang Bingkuan alone for His Majesty's patrol."

Liu Jian said angrily: "We all know what happened, why do we still have to be merciful? Have we forgotten the most basic remonstrance today? You and I jointly..."

This time is different from before.

In the past, the cabinet always wanted to find someone to be the gunman. If something happened like this, those people would also be the scapegoats.

This time Liu Jian made a bold move and decided to charge into the battle himself. He was threatening to fight Zhang Zhou to the death.

……

……

The emperor left the capital, and Chen Kuan was also very anxious.

He was very afraid that something would happen to the emperor on the road. After all, the emperor only brought a few hundred people with him on his patrol, not even a thousand. This attitude made Chen Kuan feel that the emperor was putting himself in danger.

"If Cai Guogong comes here, there will be big trouble." Chen Kuan said to Wei Bin.

Wei Bin said: "Since Eunuch Chen already knew that His Majesty was going on a patrol, why didn't he stop him at that time? Does it still make sense to talk about this now?"

Chen Kuan then raised his hand and said, "Go and call Yang Peng."

"Okay." Wei Bin originally wanted to say, I shouldn't be allowed to do things like conveying messages, right?

But in this current situation, Wei Bin felt that the Chief of Ceremonies was gradually losing the emperor's trust, and he had a feeling of sharing weal and woe, even if he was just an errand boy.

……

……

When Yang Peng arrived at the supervisor's duty room, several eunuchs were carrying new memorials, carrying several boxes in this direction.

Yang Peng walked over and asked, "Is this the backlog of memorials?"

"You know what you are asking." Chen Kuan said with a straight face, "Your Majesty has been in power since he left the court due to illness. Although the government has been largely intact, there are still many things that have been delayed. There has been a backlog of things in the past few months, and now it has come to us. When it has to be implemented.”

"Is this why you called our family?" Yang Peng seemed confused.

Wei Bin said: "Oh, Eunuch Yang, are you pretending to be confused? His Majesty's patrol is such a big thing, and we people are now being shelved in the capital. How much can we do?"

Yang Peng asked with a smile: "His Majesty, did you say that all major matters should be dealt with after the Holy Emperor comes back?"

Chen Kuan said with a straight face: "Don't be so playful."

"Yes, yes." Yang Peng stopped smiling.

Chen Kuan said again: "We don't even ask what you did during His Majesty's patrol. What we have to do now is to keep the Ming Dynasty in order. Now we, with some helpers, can We need to review and implement all the memorials that have been accumulated in our hands. Your Majesty has already said so. It will only take half a month, and not a single one will be left."

Yang Peng said: "This means..."

Chen Kuan pointed to a few boxes of memorials and said: "This part is for you to deal with. Isn't your Eunuch Yang a capable person? There are so many people replaced in this ceremonial supervisor's office. With someone like you who was born as a royal horse supervisor, He said, you should be able to handle it. If you really can’t handle it, our family will send someone to help you.”

"No need." Yang Peng seemed very confident.

Although he had not worked in the Supervisor of Ceremonies before, he had entered the Study Room of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and he had also briefly supervised the East Factory as the eunuch of the Royal Horse Supervisor. Regarding the affairs of the DPRK, he felt that he was the clearest person in the family. of.

Chen Kuandao: "You are limited to ten days to complete the matters assigned to you. Five days are left to check for errors."

Yang Peng asked: "Those two father-in-laws, do you have any advice?"

Chen Kuan's face was dark and he said: "If you do well, our family can even recommend you to your Majesty, and you will be in charge of the duties of the Supervisor of Ceremonies."

"Don't dare." Yang Peng declined deliberately, "I don't have such a big head, so I can't wear such a big hat."

Wei Bin joked from the side: "Are you still worried that your head is not big enough? If your head is small, I'm afraid no one in the court will have to wear a hat."

Chen Kuandao: "The manpower of the Supervisor of Ceremonies is seriously insufficient. I have mentioned it to His Majesty several times, but His Majesty has not commented on the matter of increasing the manpower. In this case, we cannot talk about the quantity, but only the ability to do things. I hope that Mr. Yang, you will become the Supervisor of Ceremonies." The mainstay of the prison. Give him his share."

Yang Peng saw the unkind expression on Chen Kuan's face.

He was thinking, isn't he just trying to take the opportunity to cause me problems? The more you dare to leave big and difficult things to me, the more I dare to handle things beautifully, I don't believe you can find any faults.

Now I want people, money, and a lot of connections. From now on, who should I be, the Chief of Ceremonies, and the Eunuch in charge of Printing?

……

……

After Zhang Mao returned to Beijing, he wanted to visit senior officials in Beijing, especially the cabinet ministers and the six ministers. However, after asking around, he found that no one wanted to see him.

In the end, he could only meet one very "tasteless" character, Shen Lu, the political envoy who was famous for his diplomacy in the capital.

And he still invited Shen Lu to his own house, so as to save him the pain of running around, and to avoid people saying that he had nothing to do and went out to cling to him. Now it can be said that Shen Lu took the initiative to come to him.

"My lord, your house is really full of things. After spring, everything is green. It really is a big family, and there are many branches and leaves. It's really admirable."

When Shen Lu arrived at the British palace, he felt a little envious.

Although he himself had a mansion in the capital, compared with Zhang Mao, his own mansion was still too shabby.

The house in front of him, regardless of its large layout and brand-new bricks and tiles, let alone every tree or flower in the yard, made Shen Lu feel the difference in class. That seemed to be something he couldn't do by being an official, and also It was something he never dreamed of.

Zhang Mao smiled and said: "Shen Yintai, if you are interested, I will give you some more later. Just tell me what you like. There are a lot of things in my house, and they have been saved over the past few lifetimes."

Shen Lu said: "My lord, your words are ridiculous. Since they are false rumors, how can others dare to take advantage of others?"

"Others will definitely not be able to do that, but if you come to Shen Yintai, how can I be stingy?" Zhang Mao said, "Just tell me that I have a few pots of precious orchids here, and I will send them to you later. I also hope that Shen Yintai can be as upright and upright as this gentleman. "

"Haha." Shen Lu smiled bitterly.

There is nothing wrong with describing me except that I am a gentleman.

Have you ever seen a gentleman standing under a dangerous wall when nothing happened? There is nothing lively in this court, so I will dig in...I couldn't adapt to it before, but now, regardless of whether I adapt to it or not, all the ministers in the court have adapted to me doing this.

The two entered the main hall.

Zhang Mao also said bluntly at this time: "This time I asked Your Majesty to resign from the Governor's Office. From now on, I will be an idler. My son, in this battle in the northwest, has achieved military exploits with Pinglu Hou. I want to cultivate him well. From now on, the affairs of the Zhang family will be left to him."

Shen Lu said: "The British prince is now in his prime, so he just...retired?"

"I dare not say it." Zhang Mao said, "You are in your prime, but you are in your twilight years. A trip to the northwest will be unbearable for your body and bones. Even Your Majesty is considerate and allows the old man to come back and take good care of himself. By the way, I really want to go to Nanjing to stay for a few years... …I also heard that Shandong is a good place and I want to live there.”

"What did you say?" Shen Lu didn't understand.

Zhang Mao's thoughts were jumping too fast. One moment he wanted to go to Nanjing, and another moment he wanted to go to Shandong. With Shen Lu's mastery of the world, he didn't even think about what Zhang Mao was going to do.

Zhang Mao said: "It's really not possible. I'm willing to accept the crime and go to the seaside to help Duke Cai. He is currently devoting his whole life to the court. It's good for an idle man to even fulfill his duties. What do you think?"

Shen Lu asked: "My lord, if you are not here, who among the soldiers in the capital camp can control them?"

"Haha." Zhang Mao stroked his beard, looking calm and composed.

But Zhang Mao was actually quite panicked.

Most of the soldiers in the capital camp were originally his direct descendants, but now... they had obviously obeyed him before, but this time when he came back, no one came to visit him, as if he was regarded as the god of plague.

Shen Lu said: "The errands in the Beijing camp cannot be undertaken by someone as qualified as the British Duke. I have always adhered to this idea on this matter. Even if your Majesty asks, you will say so."

Zhang Mao shook his head and said: "If you want to retreat, that is to say, you really want to retreat. How can you stay here? Don't misunderstand Shen Yintai. I just want to do my best for the court. As for where, it's pretty much the same."

Shen Lu nodded and said: "Young Master is really devoted to the country. But I heard... Your Majesty..."

"Is His Majesty not in Beijing?" Zhang Mao took the initiative to change the topic.

"This..." Shen Lu didn't know how to respond.

Zhang Mao said: "Your Majesty may have gone east to find Cai Guogong. I heard that it was about the train. The very large iron shell can actually run like a carriage. It is said that it can carry countless coal and iron, and even even Soldiers and horses can also be transported. Who else but Cai Guogong can think of such a miracle?"

Shen Lu asked: "Master, why don't you ask for orders and go together?"

"Huh?" Zhang Mao frowned.

I said I wanted to go to the port to shine for the imperial court, but you really let me go on my own request?
You, Shen Lu, are not on the right path.

Shen Lu said: "As far as I know, only those who understand firearms, especially powerful gunpowder, new cannons and flint guns, are qualified to be promoted in the army. Therefore, I also hope that the British Lord can do more... in this regard." Study. The British Lord went to the northwest. I think he has already dabbled in firearms, and he can even be said to be proficient in them, but he needs to learn more about other strange skills. "

Zhang Mao nodded and said: "Shen Yintai, you can wake up the dreamer with just one word."

Compliment each other.

Shen Lu asked: "Your Majesty is on a tour. Sir, do you think your Majesty's trip is not just to see the train, but for other reasons? Could it be that your Majesty is preparing to make some changes...in the battle of Liaodong?"

Zhang Mao leaned over and asked: "Shen Yintai, tell me, if I retreat, who will be entrusted with all the errands in the Beijing camp? Is there anyone... fighting for this matter recently?"

The two of them didn't answer each other's questions, they both wanted to get answers from each other.

Shen Lu thought for a while, shook his head and said: "Everyone in the capital is self-aware, and there is no way to argue about it. Probably only Cai Guogong... or some people... such as Shouning Marquis and Jianchang Bo will know more about the errands in the capital camp." Pay attention.”

Zhang Mao nodded and said: "Then if I come back as a dog..."

"hehe."

Shen Lu smiled bitterly.

You are so direct.

Retreat yourself and let your son come back to take over your job. This means that the power is still in the hands of your family.

This wishful thinking is very loud.

"Very good." Shen Lu said, "It's a pity that it's hard for me to make any suggestions on such matters as my servants speak lightly."

Zhang Mao said: "Don't get me wrong. I just mentioned it casually. After all, Quanzi has no reputation. If someone really mentioned him, I would be absolutely grateful. I have nothing to do with it these years. I just rely on the accumulation of several generations to have some family property and so on. "When I meet someone who is kind to me, I will definitely reciprocate the favor."

The implication is that you, Shen Lu, will help me pass on my son's reputation so that he can gain fame and come back to the capital camp as soon as possible.

This way I won't treat you badly. (End of chapter)