The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 338

Zhang Zhou was ordered to enter the palace to pray for blessings.

The eunuch Yang Peng led the way. Yang Peng has been promoted to the eunuch supervisor of the Royal Horse Supervisor, and his status is second only to the eunuch of the Royal Horse Supervisor. The status in the country is also second only to Dugong Xiao Jing.

Because Xiao Jing is likely to be promoted to eunuch in charge of rites soon, Yang Peng is also actively courting Zhang Zhou in order to obtain the qualifications to enter the ceremonies as eunuch of Bingbi and admiral of Dongchang.

During the reign of Hongzhi, except for very few times, the admiral of the East Factory was concurrently served by the eunuch Bingbi, the supervisor of ceremonies. If Yang Peng wanted to become the second most powerful person in the Ming Dynasty, he must also want to climb up and get into the supervisor of ceremonies. , but he also knew that Wei Bin and Chen Kuan were standing in front of him.

As for Ning Jin, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Supervisor...he has the command authority of the four major guards of the palace, and he is in charge of military power, so he will not sneak into the Prison Supervisor, and he will not be able to get in.

Ning Jin formed a school of his own in the palace, even Zhang Yong was only Ning Jin's younger brother during the Hongzhi period, and he was also a highly regarded eunuch during the Chenghua period, and had a good relationship with the Queen Mother Zhou, Queen Mother Wang and Zhu Youtang.

He Ding, who wanted to beat the Zhang family brothers with a pumpkin because they tried to wear the crown and peeked at the inner curtain, was Ning Jin's man, but when He Ding was killed by Li Guangzhang, Ning Jin did not come forward to rescue him.

The factions in the palace are like this, each has its own affiliation, without a backer, it is really impossible to make a name for yourself in the palace.

"...Grandpa, the person presiding over the prayer today is Master Cui, Minister of the Taichang Temple. He has admired you for a long time and has always said that he wants to see you. Now you don't take care of the affairs of the Taichang Temple, and he will take care of them more. .”

Yang Peng took Zhang Zhou to the back garden of the palace, and from a distance, he saw that the blessings had been arranged.

A man in his fifties wearing a bright red official uniform with a bit of a fairy spirit, holding a whisk in his hand, nodded to Zhang Zhou from a distance.

Zhang Zhou had actually met Cui Zhiduan, but he had never dealt with him before. At this time, he walked over and was introduced by Yang Peng.

Cui Zhiduan, as the Minister of Taichang Temple, was originally only a part-time job, or an honorary position. Before that, Li Wen, who was a Jinshi, was in charge of the affairs of Taichang Temple. However, after Zhang Zhou was promoted to the No.3 Minister of Taichang Temple, a The position could not accommodate so many people, so Li Wen was sent to Nanjing to be the Minister of Honglu Temple, basically one step away from retirement.

Cui Zhiduan jumped from a Taoist priest to the official minister of Taichang Temple in the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention a Jinshi, he was not even a tribute student or a student member. He used to be just a Taoist priest in the Shinto temple.

"I have met Master Zhang." After Cui Zhiduan met Zhang Zhou, even if he was old and prudent, the respect he showed was different from that of ordinary people.

It probably means that a fake real person meets a real demigod.

Zhang Zhou also greeted Cui Zhiduan with a smile.

He knows the history very well. Cui Zhiduan, as the "Taoist Shangshu" of Ming Dynasty, took charge of Taichang Temple as a part-time Minister of Rites until the 17th year of Hongzhi. However, the distance from being promoted to Shangshu... is far away.

Cui Zhiduan took Zhang Zhou to visit the scene of the blessing ceremony.

Cui Zhiduan said: "I am fortunate enough to have seen the blessing ceremony of the master, and I am very looking forward to it. I hope that I will be lucky enough to learn more from the master today."

Zhang Zhou said, "Have I ever prayed for blessings?"

"This……"

Cui Zhiduan just wanted to be polite to Zhang Zhou, but Zhang Zhou directly scolded him back.

Yang Peng hurriedly reminded: "Mr. Lai, have you forgotten? It was also here before, and it was last year's autumn report to pray for blessings. At that time, there were still many married women entering the palace."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Oh, I almost forgot if I didn't mention it. Will His Majesty come today?"

"No... I didn't say anything." Yang Peng looked embarrassed.

The people below are doing things, but they still want to know the meaning of the people above?Yang Peng himself seems to be a high-ranking person, but in fact he doesn't even have the qualifications to directly contact the emperor, which is why he desperately wants to climb up.

"Let's start, let's start." Zhang Zhou urged.

Zhang Zhou was also thinking that he was just praying for a blessing, and he said he couldn't do it, but the emperor insisted on letting him come and observe in person, as if he wanted peace of mind.

Since the heart is at ease, then hurry up and finish it before leaving the palace to do your own business.

……

……

The blessing ceremony is in progress.

Zhang Zhou looked at Cui Zhiduan leading a group of people dancing on it, looking at the palace garden withered in autumn from time to time, wondering why everything looked different from the previous year.

"Grandpa." Yang Peng came over amidst the hustle and bustle, and leaned into Zhang Zhou's ear and said, "The Empress Dowager just sent Eunuch Jiang to deliver a message, saying that after you finish your work here, go for a walk."

"Dream interpretation?" Zhang Zhou frowned.

Yang Peng said, "I don't know."

Zhang Zhou nodded.

It wasn't until Cui Zhiduan finished all the work on the stage that Zhang Zhou went to say goodbye to him, and then walked to the gate of the palace garden, but saw Jiang Luzheng standing there in a bloated winter suit, smiling at him.

Yang Peng originally wanted to ask about Yu Jinsheng, but seeing that Zhang Zhou was going to Qingning Palace, he only said that he would wait for Zhang Zhou to come out from Qingning Palace to accompany Zhang Zhou out of the palace, and then watched Jiang Lu and Zhang Zhou leave.

All the way to Qingning Palace.

Jiang Lu went in to communicate, and Zhang Zhou found that there were many eunuchs and maids standing beside him. These people were all peeking at him, and they probably thought he was interesting.

When Jiang Lu came out to lead the way, Zhang Zhou asked, "But is there anyone else?"

Jiang Lu said: "The Empress Dowager is also here."

The so-called empress dowager was the only one who was not favored by Xianzong. In fact, in terms of closeness to Zhu Youtang, the queen dowager was not as good as the abolished empress Wu when Xianzong was in power. After Zhu Youtang was born, he had the kindness to raise him secretly. Zhu Youtang raised Wu as his mother, and Zhu Youtang respected the queen more in terms of etiquette.

……

……

Inside Qingning Palace.

Zhang Zhou saw the queen dowager, who was about 50 years old but about 60 years old, who was very ordinary in appearance, even a little old.

"Minister Zhang Zhou, I have seen the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager."

Zhang Zhou was thinking while saluting.

Just looking at her looks, she wouldn't be very good when she was young, and I don't know what the old lady thought at the time. This is to uphold the principle of "marrying a wife and marrying a virtuous man" to find ugly monsters for your son?But knowing that your son is in love with Wan Zhen'er, and still looking for such a... No wonder your son was not interested in women other than Wan Zhen'er back then.

The Empress Dowager Zhou smiled and said: "Bingkuan, long time no see, I think you seem to be thinner, is it because you went to the Northwest and went back and forth and didn't recuperate well? The emperor is also, I should give you more supplements, so, let's go The Ai family will give you some more when you are here, take it back and make up for it."

Don't care about court affairs, care about your body first.

Zhang Zhouxin said, old lady, you are really thoughtful, and I am not related to you, why are you so polite?

"The Empress Dowager laughed. In fact, I have gained three or four catties of meat recently on the scale. I also told Your Majesty that the capital's soil and water are easy to support idlers like ministers." Zhang Zhou responded with a smile.

The Empress Dowager Zhou pointed at Zhang Zhou with a smile, and said to the Empress Dowager Wang: "You don't know him, he usually talks like this, not only the Ai family likes him, but even His Majesty can't do anything about him. They all came into the room , why wear so much? Take off your coat, or you will sweat and get cold easily when you go out."

Hey.

Zhang Zhouxin said, the old lady is really thoughtful.

How can you take care of me like this?
Immediately, a delicate little palace lady came over and helped Zhang Zhou take the cloak, without hanging it aside, she directly took it to the back curtain.

Zhang Zhou was thinking that all the maids in Qingning Palace seemed to be replaced by young and beautiful ones, did he want to take advantage of Zhu Youtang's visit and force him to do so, and then found out that the little maid's behavior immediately felt like he had been cheated? up.

He was thinking about what was wrong, but he heard the Queen Mother Zhou say hello:
"Give a seat!"

Zhang Zhou was still thinking about it.

Call me here, maybe you want to discuss something, but let me stand and listen?This treatment is obviously not good.

Did you forget to ask someone to seat you?
Waiting for the chairs to be arranged... Zhang Zhou was instantly embarrassed, and the chairs were arranged at the door.

Theoretically speaking, it was right for the two "Aijia" to summon him as a man outside the palace, and to deliberately keep a distance from him, but this distance...

Zhang Zhou sat very stiffly near the door, with the cold wind blowing behind him, he felt that the cloak was taken away on purpose.

Zhang Zhou was still thinking, I installed the heater for you, you can enjoy the warmth there, let me blow cold air by the door?

Empress Dowager Zhou said with a smile: "Bing Kuan, Your Majesty has often been in and out of the palace gate recently, and I heard that there is a confidante around him, do you know?"

"I don't know." Zhang Zhou answered very directly.

Do you know, anyway, I am a go-between, and the matter is up to the emperor to complete it himself. The emperor wants to hide Queen Zhang, and he doesn't want people to think that this matter is related to me. If he doesn't tell others, how can he tell me?
Empress Dowager Zhou said: "You are wrong, what's the emperor's business, will you still hide it from you?"

Is it strange to hide from me?

Zhang Zhouxin said, don't you still not know?

Zhang Zhou said in a neither humble nor overbearing tone: "Perhaps Your Majesty just doesn't want the minister to know?"

"Ah."

Empress Dowager Zhou understood Zhang Zhou's hint.

The emperor didn't want people to misunderstand that Zhang Zhou was looking for an affair with him.

"What's going on? The door is not closed, and the warmth has flowed out of the door. Close the door!" Empress Dowager Zhang gave an order, and then the trembling little eunuch standing by the door closed the door .

Zhang Zhou finally felt that his back was not so cool.

Zhang Zhou cursed secretly.

The old lady is really hiding a knife in the cotton, and she even brought a whole person! ?
Mother Zhou said again: "I heard that the emperor is not feeling well recently, and he hasn't been in court for a long time. Didn't you give the emperor good health care?"

Zhang Zhoudao: "Heart disease requires heart medicine. I can help His Majesty recuperate his body, but he cannot help His Majesty recuperate his heart."

Now Zhang Zhou seems to understand why the Queen Mother Zhou gave him a period of "punishment", he said to himself, don't the old lady think that I deliberately let the emperor alienate the court, and treat me as a traitor and traitor who disrupted the government?
"Where is the heart medicine?" Queen Mother Zhou asked.

Zhang Zhou sighed: "In Liaodong, or in the grasslands, a war has not been resolved for a long time. Your majesty is worried and anxious, and the state of mind drives the body, so it has not been healed for a long time."

"In that case, it still depends on you." Empress Dowager Zhou sighed, and said to Jiang Lu, "It's too far away, I can't speak clearly, please help move Bingkuan's chair to this side."

Now Zhang Zhou can finally sit in a relatively warm place and talk.

The Empress Dowager Zhou said earnestly: "Bingkuan, Aijia has seen your ability before. You want to help the country, and you must cooperate with all the nobles in the court, and you don't want to be alone. What your Majesty wants is to govern the country and secure the country. If you want to achieve high grades, you also need to be stable in the court. People's hearts are very important."

What do you say?
Zhang Zhou sneered in his heart, and said: "I have always felt that in the matter of helping the country, my ability is weak and it is difficult to achieve anything. So recently, I have been focusing on making some firearms and teaching the prince. matter."

"Very good, very good." The Queen Mother Zhou said, "What about the Empress?"

Zhang Zhoudao: "I don't understand what the Empress Dowager means."

The Empress Dowager Zhou said with a smile: "I heard that the two of Zhang's family are very prosperous now, and they are all thanks to your help. Now they are almost capable ministers of the Ming Dynasty. The two of them used to be the ones who caused the chaos. Why is the silverfish called Chaotang so powerful in your hands?"

Zhang Zhou shrugged: "Probably everyone has potential."

"Open the door, it's a bit boring..." Queen Mother Zhou said immediately.

Zhang Zhouyi knew it when he heard it. Feelings let me come today, just to let me feel your "cold wind" and let me understand your state of mind, right?
In the past, I used code words to communicate, but now I am asked to "assess the situation". Whenever my body is cold, it means that you have an opinion on me and let me correct it. Is that what you mean?

"The empress dowager is old, so the cold wind can't blow at will." Zhang Zhou said.

Originally, Jiang Lu had arrived at the door and was about to open it, but was stopped by the Empress Dowager Zhou.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Actually, the Marquis of Shouning and Uncle Jianchang have not only made achievements in running the army recently, but I also brought them along when they opened mines, so that they can make money."

When the Queen Mother heard this, she was immediately annoyed.

I thought you were enlightened, and your feelings are deliberately pissing me off, right?

With a wave of his hand, Jiang Lu had already put his hand on the doorknob this time.

Zhang Zhoudao: "They are already a little bit reluctant to leave, and they don't want to go back to the capital if I tell them."

Jiang Lu is also a person who knows the direction of the wind. Hearing this, he immediately looked at the Queen Mother Zhou.

It means asking for instructions, can this door still be opened?

"Oh, that's true. The two boys of the Zhang family are in the border town, and I haven't heard of them doing evil for a long time. The capital seems to be much more peaceful recently. But with their abilities, the Ai family is always afraid that they will be killed by the two of them. The misbehavior of the people affected the overall stability of Daming Border Town." The Empress Dowager Zhou seemed to have something else to say.

He squinted at Zhang Zhou.

It seems to be saying, you said that you transferred the two of them out of the capital, you are not secretly taking this opportunity to show favor with the queen, right?

Now even my granddaughter-in-law doesn't bother you anymore, the Zhang family almost treats you as a benefactor.

Which side did you, Zhang Bingkuan, form an alliance with?
"If there is meritorious deeds, there are demerits. The two of them are doing well now. Who knows what will happen in the future? If there is any fault, it will still be dealt with by military law." Zhang Zhou said.

"Oh." The Empress Dowager Zhou seemed to be stunned, but continued to ask, "When?"

Hey.

Zhang Zhouxin said, the boss and the second child of the Zhang family, such stupid people, even if they did something stupid, what's the matter with you, an old lady who lives in the deep palace?
Don't take the opportunity to retaliate, okay?
I think...the two brothers are quite cute, and they are so smooth and handy when they are used.

Who made all the civil servants in the court all pick my nose and eyes, but these two brothers, give me three melons and two dates, and follow behind my ass?
"At this time, it depends on the timing." Zhang Zhoudao, "The empress dowager is safe and don't be impatient."

The Zhang family brothers are fairly honest now, but with their pissing nature, your old lady is still afraid that they won't cause trouble?

The Empress Dowager Zhou said: "The Ai family thought so too, but they haven't waited for the opportunity until now. If you don't meet the opportunity, you have to create the opportunity."

"Yes Yes."

Zhang Zhou also understood.

The Empress Dowager Zhou was urging him to quickly get the Zhang family brothers to hell.

"You have done a good job with Li Guang's matter. That guy always uses things like God's will to confuse people's hearts, but he can't make it happen. However, he has tossed the government and the opposition and attracted a lot of criticism." Queen Mother Zhou Smiling, he said, "Unlike Bingkuan, you are calm and righteous in doing things, and you won the emperor's heart, and you also won the heart of mourning the family."

That's right, it just doesn't win the hearts of the ruling and opposition parties.

So old lady, you are threatening me and telling me that you can make use of Li Guang's matter, if I don't listen to you, you also want to make use of me, right?

Aren't you afraid that I'll call you another Tianlei?
Of course, I have no such skills.

But you also need to see whether it is your borrowing that works well, or mine.

"The empress dowager woke up with a start, I must remember it in my heart." Zhang Zhou perfunctory.

In fact, Zhang Zhou also understood that both he and the Queen Mother knew in their hearts that no one could deal with the other, and the exchange of interests was acceptable, and there was no point in making small moves to blow the cold wind.

The Empress Dowager Zhou looked at the Empress Dowager Wang with a smile and said: "Let's not talk about my Zhou family, it is the Wang family...Rui'anhou and Chongshanbo both have talents. Pay more attention and take them to the Martial Arts Hall to raise them. click."

The Empress Dowager's younger brother, Wang Yuan, is the Marquis of Rui'an, who was enfeoffed in the 20th year of Chenghua; his younger brother, Wang Qing, was Chongshan Bo, who was conferred a title only in the tenth year of Hongzhi;

But the Wang family itself has no power and status, not to mention comparing with the relatives of the old Zhang family, even compared with the Zhou family, it is still far behind.

Zhang Zhoudao: "The minister also wrote it down."

"That's good." The Empress Dowager Zhou said, "You should pay more attention to the emperor's affairs. You can't just focus on court affairs and ruin your body, and you can't ignore court affairs because you are resting. You usually walk in front of the emperor. You should mention more."

"Yes." Zhang Zhou just agreed at this meeting.

"It's getting late, go back."

The Empress Dowager Zhou also stopped mentioning Zhu Youtang's acceptance of the concubine, and she was about to issue an order to expel the guests.

Zhang Zhou stood up and saluted, and said, "The clothes of the minister?"

"Oh, if you don't mention Aijia, you will forget it! Take it out!" Queen Mother Zhou said.

Nothing happened inside.

Jiang Lu said with a smile: "The servant girl went in and talked about it, I'm afraid the people inside are hard of hearing and didn't hear it."

The Empress Dowager Zhou gave him a white look and said: "That's where we should find some smart people, otherwise Bingkuan thought that Ai's family wanted him to go outside to catch the cold."

(End of this chapter)