Fortunate Young Gentleman

Zhang Yan stood in the courtyard, looking at a dead tree in the courtyard in trance.

In his eyes, he was like this dead tree, full of twilight and lifeless.

Thinking about it carefully, this dead tree seems to be better than him. After all, in another month, new buds will grow on this tree and it will be full of life. He himself will spend decades in Zhongshu Province and die. At that time, he became a great scholar of the dynasty, respected by officials and loved by the people.

This is the Zhang family's path, but it is not the path he wants.

When he was young, he ranked second in the imperial examination in the same class. He originally entered the Hanlin Academy and practiced for two years before entering the Sixth Department and gradually promoted. Because of the Zhang family, he skipped the Hanlin Academy and directly entered the Zhongshu Province. Within a short period of time, he took the position of Vice Minister of Zhongshu.

At that time, he was envied by countless people, and his smooth career was unparalleled among his peers.

But more than ten years later, he is still the minister of Zhongshu.

Today, there are several people who are not as good as him in the same class of the imperial examination. Some are already ministers, some serve as ministers in the province, and some are appointed as governors of Shangzhou. He is still sitting in the position of minister of Zhongshu. .

The Zhang family made him successful, but also restricted him. He wanted to escape from the restrictions of the Zhang family, but he was bound by countless shackles and could not move at all.

This time, the post of Minister of Rites was not a big surprise, and it would definitely not fall on him.

In the past ten years or so, there have been many opportunities like this, but he could only watch them slip away before his eyes.

Zhang Yan sighed and saw his daughter walking in from the outside and asked, "Prince Run is gone?"

The little girl nodded.

Zhang Yan looked at her and said: "If you want to go out to play, you can find other sisters. You are a big girl now. You can't always surround King Run like you did when you were a child. There are differences between men and women. You must know how to avoid suspicion..."

Zhang Yan doesn't really like Run Wang Zhao Yuan that much. Compared with other princes, he is not motivated at all and only knows how to play. Influenced by the Zhang family's family tradition, he still prefers those who are motivated and hardworking.

Not only that, as a man..., as a boy, he spends all day soaking in makeup and powder, followed by a group of girls. Is this what a man should do?

The little girl raised her head and said seriously: "But he said he would marry me in the future."

After hearing this, Zhang Yan felt even more dissatisfied and said, "Children know what marriage is, you will understand it when you grow up."

Naturally, a girl from the Zhang family must be from a scholarly family. Even if she marries a royal family, she must be an imperial concubine, not a princess.

The possibility of King Run succeeding to the throne and becoming emperor is the same as the possibility of him succeeding as Minister of Rites.

Close to zero.

But the little girl didn't pay attention to his words and curled her lips and said: "He will marry me when he grows up. We hooked up with him. He also said that daddy will be the minister."

Zhang Yan shook his head and did not take his daughter's words to heart.

There is no love without reason in this world, there is no hate without reason, and there is no such thing as the Minister of Rites without reason.

He and Fang Hong, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, are neither relatives nor friends, and there are many people in the court who are suitable for the position of the Minister of Rites. Among other things, Chen Ye, the minister of Huangmen, was a Jinshi in the same year as Fang Hong, and They are close friends, why should this position be given to me but not to him?

Just because King Run said he wanted to marry his daughter?

Zhang Yan sighed, never thinking about this matter again, and walked out of the house, preparing to go outside to relax.

As soon as he stepped out of the house, he saw a eunuch getting out of the car and said directly to the Zhang family's concierge: "Your Majesty has spoken, and Zhang Yan, the assistant minister of Xuan Zhongshu, is entering the palace."

Zhang Yan was stunned when he heard this.

After so many years as an official, this is the first time that he has been summoned by His Majesty. Moreover, the Lantern Festival has not passed yet and he is still in the period of recess. What will happen if His Majesty summons him at this time?

A bright light flashed in his mind, causing his body to tremble slightly, and he was even a little dizzy.

…

In the royal study.

Emperor Chen looked at Zhang Yan and said: "The Ministry of Rites is the head of the six departments. I will hand it over to Zhang Aiqing today. I hope you will not disappoint me."

Zhang Yan, who had recovered from the shock and disbelief, immediately bowed and said: "I must work hard and live up to His Majesty's grace..."

He secretly glanced at Fang Hong, the official minister, who was standing aside, and his heart was full of doubts. Did Fang Hong really give him this opportunity?

After walking out of the imperial study room, Zhang Yan was still a little confused. It took him some effort to finally confirm that this good thing had indeed happened to him.

Fang Hong walked slowly to Zhang Yan's side, bowed his hands to him, and said with a smile: "Master Zhang, we will be colleagues from now on. In addition to the next provincial examination, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites will have to look after each other... "

Zhang Yan nodded and said: "That's natural, that's natural."

In the officialdom, favors come and go. This time he became the Minister of Rites because he inherited Fang Hong's favor. This favor must be repaid sooner or later.

He looked at Fang Hong, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Mr. Fang..."

Fang Hong smiled and said: "Mr. Zhang, you are very polite. I don't know how the bachelor is doing when he comes in. I plan to pay a visit to you in the near future..."

"My father is in good health." Zhang Yan said with a smile: "Master Fang can come, the Zhang family welcomes you..."

…

From the first to the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, these days of recess should have been peaceful. But this year, I don’t know what happened, but several major events happened one after another in the court.

Kang Wang was assassinated, Tang Huai was deprived of the position of Minister of Rites, and a few days later, the new Minister of Rites took the position again. No one expected that the one who finally took advantage of this was the least noticeable Zhongshu Shilang Zhang Yan.

The Zhang family has always been noble, not involved in court affairs, not involved in parties, and acting very low-key. Many party officials did not even know that there was such a person in the Zhongshu Province.

This time, he took the position of Minister of Rites without any signs and appeared in front of everyone.

After learning that Zhang Yan had taken the position of Minister of Rites, Tang Ning sighed a little.

When Prince Duan and Prince Kang were fighting for power, they relied on power and money to win over parties. Zhao Yuan was smarter than them. He relied on his sister.

The most speechless thing is that his trick actually worked.

The Zhang family is an evergreen tree in the officialdom, and its influence in the court is extraordinary. This time, they must accept Fang Hong's favor. The Zhang family and the Fang family will first have a good relationship, and Zhao Yuan will have another invisible helper in the court.

There is also his sister Wang, Wang Xiang, who sits in the center of the government. She is truly second to none and can play a decisive role at critical moments.

His sister Bai is also indispensable. The Bai family is in charge of the East Gate Guard, plus Tang Ning's Zuo Xiaowei. The Ling family is Yaoyao's uncle's family. Such good things will naturally be brought along in the future. Xiao *hard to get up* Jue will probably also join in the fun.

In this way, Zhao Yuan has all the important civil and military officials.

As for the six ministries, the Ministry of Personnel is naturally needless to say. Fang Hong is the Shangshu, plus Tang Ning, who can make the decision and continue to increase his bargaining chips in the future.

There is no need to consider the Ministry of Households. With Fang Zhe, the old fox, there is nothing to worry about.

The Lu family of the Ministry of War can be handed over to Xiao Jue, and Tang Ning can also have a say in Zhang Hao of the Ministry of Works. The Ministry of Rites is Zhao Yuan's future father-in-law's family. If he doesn't help his own son-in-law, will he help outsiders?

Among the six ministries, Zhao Yuan already has five, and the remaining one is the Ministry of Justice, which has little say, so it is not a big problem.

These are Zhao Yuan's capital. If Tang Ning had not had a little obsessive-compulsive disorder and felt uncomfortable if the six ministries were not complete, they could do nothing now and wait for Zhao Yuan to finish his development.

Speaking of the Ministry of Justice, I don't know if Song Yi, the Minister of Justice, has a daughter at home. Otherwise, let Zhao Yuan work hard and strive to complete the six ministries...

Tang Ning came back from the Ministry of Personnel and just walked into the house when Qing'er ran over and said, "Son-in-law, there are two guests at home..."

Tang Ning asked, "What guests?"

Qing'er touched his head and said, "It's said that it's the Minister of Justice, what is the Judicial Commissioner, and you will know when you go and see it."

Tang Ning walked into the side hall and looked at the two brothers Song Yi and Song Qian who were sitting in the hall drinking tea, and smiled and said, "Why are you two here today..."