The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 222 Answering the Questions of the Courtiers on behalf of the King

Zhang Zhou wants to entertain the women and children of Zhu Youtang's family.

After dark in the afternoon, he followed Zhu Youtang back to Qianqing Palace. At this time, Zhu Youtang drank two glasses of wine, his face was ruddy and a little drunk, but Dai Yi asked Dai Yi to take out a bunch of memorials that he was embarrassed to take out before. , Show it to Zhang Zhou.

"Bingkuan, I don't even want to mention this to you. There have been a lot of military deployments in the past two months, but most of them were out of my will. People who didn't understand the intentions in the court raised questions one after another. It's very annoying. Take a look."

Then he asked Dai Yi to show Zhang Zhou a few copies of the memorial.

In fact, Zhang Zhou probably knew it even if he didn't read it.

From the use of troops at Piantouguan to the current use of troops in Liaodong, the emperor made his own decision after listening to his opinions, and had almost nothing to do with the courtiers in terms of military strategy. Right or wrong, they will speak out and question, and advise the emperor to correct his mentality and refer to the opinions of ministers and so on.

There are also "biased" places in the use of troops from partial customs and the use of troops from Liaodong and Ningyuan.

Piantouguan was blown up badly by Wang Yue, and Ning Yuan was sent by the emperor to lead the troops with three extremely controversial people in the army, and he was still on guard against the initiative of the three guards of Duoyan to make a surprise attack... No matter how you look at it, it is not a normal deployment of troops.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Your Majesty, it's the minister who caused all this and added trouble to Your Majesty."

Zhu Youtang sat loosely on the chair with a little alcohol, waved his hands and said: "This has nothing to do with you. You have always been doing it for me and Daming. You didn't make any mistakes. Why did you admit your mistakes to me?"

Dai Yi smiled and said: "That's right, Mr. Zhang, those officials are ignorant of world affairs. Your proposal up to now is to make all the towns on the nine borders of Ming Dynasty safe, and the soldiers are united as one."

is it?

Zhang Zhou almost wanted to say that he forgot that after the battle at Piantouguan, Dayan Khan and Duoyan Sanwei still dared to invade the country and plundered people and animals, right?

"Your Majesty, if the Minister has any opinions on this, you may wish to face it and answer their questions. I am willing to share your Majesty's worries."

Zhang Zhou couldn't help but be savvy.

Since the emperor mentioned this matter to him, the emperor meant to let him make suggestions.

In fact, it is very simple to solve this kind of thing, that is to find a "knowledgeable" person to explain to those ministers, regardless of whether the theory said by the knowledgeable person can be accepted by those ministers, at least in terms of diverting conflicts. , the effect is very significant.

Now those ministers are all targeting the "self-willed" emperor. If Zhang Zhou goes out to argue with the ministers, the ministers will definitely target him.

Zhu Youtang said: "Bingkuan, don't get me wrong, I didn't intend for you to answer questions for those ministers and workers, and no matter what you say, they won't listen."

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "It's man-made. If all this is caused by the minister, but the minister can't avoid it all the time, they will feel that your majesty is protecting the minister, and their attitude towards the minister will be even more unkind. Didn't your majesty also say that you want to let me go?" The minister will be an official in the future?"

You, the emperor, didn't hide the existence of me as a courtier. Even if those ministers are targeting you now, don't they know that it is me who is behind the scenes?
You also said that you should help me become an official. Your partial attitude towards me is the biggest "resistance" that affects my career.

Of course, this resistance is only relative to the attitude of those civil officials. From another perspective, fools don't want the emperor's absolute trust.

Regardless of what those civil servants think, what those civil officials mean is that any civil servant who takes the lead will be suppressed regardless of whether he is right or wrong, and everything must be done according to their seniority rules. Don't even think about becoming the pillar of Ming Dynasty.

Playing with Wenchen?

joke.

There are those who are absolutely trusted by the emperor and the prince, and who play with those civil servants, it is hard to think about it.

Seeing Zhu Youtang's hesitation, Dai Yi said, "Your Majesty, this servant also thinks what Mr. Zhang said is reasonable, why don't you let him try it?"

After Zhu Youtang thought about it, he reluctantly nodded and said: "Okay, come to the palace tomorrow morning and talk to them about this matter, don't worry, if they make things difficult for you, I won't just sit idly by."

……

……

Zhang Zhou felt that he was going to fight the Confucians.

As a new scholar, it is not the first time that he has had an argument with the ministers in court, but before, he was only defending himself for the case of the vendi case, which is not considered a direct confrontation with the ministers, but this time it is different, he has to go directly to the court. The ministers argued about the use of troops in the Northwest and Liaodong.

The challenge is still very high.

When she got home that night, Jiang Pingyu was still teaching two new maids, named Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice.

All spring, summer, autumn and winter were gathered together in one go, plus the two maids brought by Wang Mingshan, there were already six capable women in Zhang Zhou's mansion, plus the nursing home, the population was close to 20. In terms of scale, this is not counting the Jin Yiwei who helped guard the house at night and guarded the courtyard outside.

"Master, have you been drinking?" Jiang Pingyu took Zhang Zhou's coat and felt the smell of alcohol.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "After winning the first prize, I had a lot of entertainment. During the day, there was a feast of honor and honor, and in the afternoon, I went to the palace to accompany His Majesty, the Empress, and the Empress Dowager. I just had a few drinks, and I didn't get drunk."

Think everyone is like your father, a wine vat?
Old man Jiang is a bit inferior when drinking with me, but anyone outside can be drunk by him. Why does this guy like to drink with me? It's not because he felt the face of those defeated wine-fighters for the first time. The pressure on him?

"Go to bed early, I have to go to the palace early tomorrow morning." Zhang Zhoudao, "Your Majesty also gave me a court uniform, which was compiled by the Sixth Rank History Museum, and I will be an official of the Imperial Academy in the future."

Jiang Pingyu said happily: "Then the master will officially become an official? This is called the big entrance examination. Didn't the master say that there is still a small entrance examination? The concubine has taught Wang's younger sister a lot of things in the past two days, and she is already in the room tonight. Waiting for you."

"This one……"

Only then did Zhang Zhou remember that he had mentioned the matter of the junior admission after the major admission.

But today I am busy with so many things, how can I remember?Besides, I will go to the palace early in the morning to fight against the Confucian scholars. If I am busy until late tonight, I will not be able to sleep well and will not be refreshed early in the morning.
"Oh, ma'am, you are also very strange, why would you push your husband onto someone else's embroidered couch?" Zhang Zhou said with emotion.

Jiang Pingyu stared wide-eyed.

Husband changed gender today?Such a thing to ask her?
Zhang Zhou said with a smile, "I'm too tired today, so let's put things aside for tomorrow. Tomorrow...should be convenient for her, right?"

"Sure, there's no problem. The master will come back early tomorrow." Jiang Pingyu instructed.

"Well, I'll come back when I'm done. I'll try to come back at noon. I won't go anywhere until the morning of the day after tomorrow. What if I don't work hard for things like gymnastics?"

Zhang Zhou suddenly became confident again.

Although I can't do too much work tonight, I still have to hug my wife and have a good sleep. I don't enjoy the high bed, soft pillow and warm fragrance.

……

……

Early the next morning.

Zhang Zhou put on his new court clothes and took Wang Mingshan out.

Wang Mingshan didn't mind at all about being dove by Zhang Zhou last night, even if Jiang Pingyu and Han Qing pointed out to her recently, she didn't understand how it would affect her life.

Isn't it just sleep?

Where to sleep or not to sleep?Why sleep and not sleep?
They were all sent to Zhang's house by grandfather and father. Could it be that resting on the embroidered couch is more tiring than following up behind Zhang Zhou's butt every day?

Inside the palace.

In front of the Fengtian Hall, all the ministers entered the palace early. They didn't know what would happen in the court today, but when they saw Zhang Zhou arriving under the guidance of Xiao Jing, and Zhang Zhou was wearing a suit, they should have waited two days. The official uniform given by the sun.

Some of them seem to realize that today's court meeting will not be too simple.

"Bingkuan, we meet again!"

Zhang Zhouli looked alone on the side of the civil servants, and the civil servants who could come to Fengtian Hall to discuss matters would intentionally keep a distance from him.

But Wu Xun didn't shy away from it, and Zhang Mao was very enthusiastic to greet Zhang Zhou to Wu Xun, and even introduced several Xun officials around him.

"Bingkuan is a capable man. The number one scholar of the Ming Dynasty, Sanyuan Jidi, will definitely be a general in the future. Look at how decent this official uniform is? It really deserves your majestic appearance, Bingkuan..."

Zhang Mao didn't feel blushed at all when he flattered others.

On the other hand, Wu Xun seemed to think that what Zhang Mao said was very reasonable, and they nodded a lot as if they were helping a few words, which made the civil servants not far away feel very uncomfortable.

The sand in our eyes is a golden bump on Wu Xun's side?

……

……

The meeting begins.

Unsurprisingly, Zhang Zhou was still standing at the end of the civil servants, following the six subjects.

The content of the discussion at the beginning of the court meeting involved the palaces of various places, natural disasters and man-made disasters, and local reports related to robbers and looting. Listening from the back, if you don't call him, the matter has nothing to do with him, and there is no need for him to come out to mix in any opinions.

The court has passed the middle stage.

Zhu Youtang personally raised the issue of using troops on the nine frontiers.

"...After the end of the year, I asked Wang Weining to prepare for the battle at Pianguan in the first month. In the battle of Pianguan in February, Diyi's various offenses had already begun to subside, but after entering March, Duoyan Sanwei and Tatar The little prince still doesn't think about his ministers, and he has invaded the borders to disturb the people one after another. In the past two months, I have dispatched and deployed defenses to various places on the Nine Borders. Your family has many doubts..."

The ministers present said in their hearts that there is no need for your Majesty to summarize for us.

You just need to say, listen to us from now on and follow our rules, then no one will question you.

You listen to us, we still have to question, does that mean we question ourselves?

Zhu Youtang said: "I don't want to explain too much about the use of troops. Some things involve God's will, and I don't know whether I should disclose them in advance. I specially called Xinke Jinshi Zhang Zhou. He has contributed a lot to the good news, so if you have any doubts, just ask him."

"Wow."

The emperor's voice fell, and the court exploded in an instant.

The emperor didn't explain it himself, but asked us to ask that kid Zhang Zhou?

No wonder this kid appeared in the court today. He came to be the emperor's "shield" today?

The ministers here are still discussing in private, while Zhang Zhou walked out from the last row of the civil servants under the eyes of everyone, and walked slowly to the front of the main hall of Fengtian Hall. Zhang Mao.

"I see Your Majesty." Zhang Zhou said.

Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Zhang Qing's family, you don't have to be polite. There are some things today, and you will tell the ministers and workers. In fact, I don't understand some things very well. Let's answer the questions together."

"Yes."

Zhang Zhouxian bowed his hands and respectfully agreed.

Then he turned to look at the civil servants present.

He didn't need to look at Wu Xun, just from the previous attitude of Zhang Mao and others towards him, he could see that Wu Xun's power to participate in and discuss state affairs in the court was not as good as him.

During the Hongzhi period, Xungui was as happy as a dog in the court, and they were expected to come out to take the lead?
Zhang Zhou cleared his throat, and said in a calm tone that is neither humble nor overbearing: "I know that I have little talent and learning, and my knowledge and insight cannot be compared with the elders and ministers of the court, but I also have some opinions on the use of troops. If you have any doubts , I will do my best to explain the reasons for you, but please forgive me if there are any important matters related to heaven and cannot be explained clearly. I will be polite here first."

Just from the beginning.

Even some picky people, such as Xie Qian, think that Zhang Zhou is quite "sensible".

To actually know to admit our mistakes to us first, which shows that he is ignorant of learning.

But no matter how you look at it, you seem to be showing off your power to us.

We think you are, you are!No fucking explanations!This is called stereotyped prejudice, the cause of planting should have today's fruit, and you will not be able to change it for a while!

Xie Qian spoke eloquently, and asked with a smile, "God's will? You mean, are you using God's will to help His Majesty the Prime Minister and take care of the affairs of the court?"

Xie Qian saw that he was a master of sophistry. He didn't ask about the Liaodong War when he came up. He first grasped Zhang Zhou's statement about "God's will" in his words, and described Zhang Zhou as a treacherous sycophant who used alchemist's words to confuse the emperor. Act of.

Zhang Zhou smiled.

In the debate meeting, regardless of the cause and the result, we only need to set a position first, and label them first. It is indeed the first element of sophistry. It puts the opponent at the disadvantage of public opinion, and then preaches in the tone of a report on the upper wind.

It's like a debate on a college campus.

However, Zhang, as an educator, used to be the organizer and initiator of this kind of debate, and today he is going to end the debate.

The opponent... looks pretty strong.

But if it is compared with the debate masters cultivated in the era of information explosion in the future, it is not certain which one is stronger or weaker.

Zhang Zhou was laughing in his heart.

Mr. Xie Ge, how many books on philosophical speculation have you read?How about the theories of existentialism, materialism, liberalism, and conservatism?
"Yes, Mr. Xie Ge, you are right. I am using God's will to advise His Majesty. I have talked a lot about strange powers and chaos. Sometimes even I don't know whether this God's will will really be fulfilled, so Sometimes when I think about it, I feel very panic in my heart, for fear that if I take a wrong step, it will be easy to be lost." Zhang Zhou said to Xie Qian calmly.

"Ok?"

Xie Qian also heard it.

this kid...

Just admit it?

It's too easy for me to gain the upper hand in public opinion, right?Is this kid going to admit defeat?You don't even understand the reason why you don't talk about strange powers and gods?
Using God's will to assist in governing the country, do you want others not to know that you are a courtier?

Zhang Zhou took advantage of Xie Qian's surprise and was still pondering what Zhang Zhou's words meant, then turned to Zhu Youtang and solemnly admitted his mistake: "Your Majesty, I always use God's will to make suggestions, and even the use of soldiers is more important. I hope His Majesty will forgive you if you are involved or suspected of disrupting the government!"

Got it wrong?No, is this a confession?

This……

No matter how good Xie Qian was at debating, he was a little surprised by what was happening in front of him.

Zhu Youtang said with a smile: "Zhang Qing's family, you don't have to blame yourself. God's will already exists. Otherwise, since ancient times, why have kings governed affairs and courtiers talked about things based on the way of heaven? Besides, since you spoke for me, you There is not a single thing that has not been fulfilled in the prophecy, whether it is the will of heaven or the human heart, you can see clearly, if you are all to blame for this, then I am too stupid!"

Xie Qian heard this.

He couldn't help closing his eyes, and sighed in his heart.

Didn't expect this.

It seems that in the first sentence, this kid admits that he is an alchemist and a sycophant, but the biggest problem is not what he is, but the emperor trusts him. One time is considered bad, even if he is using God's will to fool things, but the problem is that since ancient times, don't ministers themselves like to talk about God's will?
Otherwise, why after the Qingning Palace disaster, Chao Zhongguang made hundreds of memorials about the disaster, and even ministers like them resigned on the grounds that they offended the heavens?Even the emperor had to issue an imperial edict because of the fire in the Qingning Palace.

Everyone doesn't believe it, why do such things?

It doesn't matter whether your ministers believe it or not, or the emperor believes it or not.

Mainly the people of the Li people believe it.

What's even worse now is that the emperor believed everything Zhang Zhou said.

Are you angry?
"Mr. Xie Ge, you are right to be worried. I am indeed not sure that everything can be said correctly, so I have mentioned to Your Majesty that if there is anything that cannot be said, please forgive me. And Your Majesty The use of troops on the nine sides was made due to God's will, and it was never a rash advance or an active attack, but a battle at the head... The battle situation is a bit out of control, and that is also the result of Wei Ninghou's own strategy. I can He didn't let him blow up the city gate! It has nothing to do with me."

While Zhang Zhou was admitting that he was an alchemist who spoke out, he was still shirking responsibility for himself.

Xie Qian didn't figure it out for a while, what kind of routine is this kid?
Why does arguing with this kid make people feel the urge to hit someone?

This tone of voice...that annoying posture, and that very blunt way of facing problems...do you understand what is called the golden mean?There are certain things and positions that you should not avoid?
Zhu Youtang said: "I can also testify for Zhang Qing's family on this point. At that time, Zhang Qing's family only proposed that the Tatars might invade the border in the middle of February, and they also provided mighty heavenly gunpowder, craftsmen and manufacturers of heavenly gunpowder. Wang Weining took the materials to Pianguan personally, but Zhang Qing's family did not participate too much in how to use the troops, and he was still in the Gongyuan at that time."

This made Xie Qian even more powerless.

Zhang Zhou is playing flower guns here, but the emperor is behind him.

The debate notary and the referee are all on Zhang Zhou's side... No wonder this kid can play cards out of routine.

(End of this chapter)