The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 384
The court will end on an eerie note.

The official censor felt that he hadn't used his strength yet, and had prepared carefully for a long time, but was "blocked" by Zhang Mao and Wu Hao at a critical moment. The emperor seemed to be punishing Zhang Zhou, but he was clearly singing a double reed.

Is the emperor willing to punish Bingkuan who he has been thinking about?

Do not make jokes!We civil servants don't believe this nonsense.

This side just dispersed.

After leaving Fengtian Temple, a group of people surrounded Wu Hao.

"Qin Tianjian has calculated that there will be disasters, why didn't he inform his officials, but only Yu Yinggong?" Tu Yu seemed very excited, because on the surface, the incident of impeachment of Zhang Zhou was initiated by him, and he More equivalent to the leader of the matter.

Liu Jian and others did not compete with him for the position of leader. Part of the reason was that Tu Yu was about to retire, and he belonged to the kind of "dead pigs are not afraid of boiling water", and Liu Jian and the others did not say that they would leave the court. Still have to deal with the emperor.

Wu Hao said: "Everyone, it's not that I don't want to say it, it's because the time is too short to calculate it. Besides, I told you all, will you believe me?"

Wu Hao was also very wronged.

He didn't even dare to say it. In fact, I didn't calculate this matter, but Zhang Bingkuan told me. Anyway, I am being used as a gunman now.

I don't care if it's accurate or not, I love it.

"If you don't tell me, how will you know whether others agree? Now you want to impeach people with a disaster that hasn't happened. Isn't this... nonsense?" Tu Yu was very annoyed.

If it wasn't because this was in the palace, maybe he would have wanted to go up and tear Wu Hao apart.

Xie Qian walked over and said: "Calm down, everyone, His Majesty didn't say anything about it, let's talk about it later. Let's go!"

As he spoke, he glanced at Zhang Zhou.

But I saw that Zhang Zhou came out with Zhang Mao... Beside Zhang Mao, there was Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites who was not involved in this matter and was about to retire.

This seemed to be showing to the ministers present that Zhang Mao was actually a [-]-year-old boy, and he stood with Zhang Zhou from the beginning to the end.

"Mr. Yingying!" Fu Han, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, had always had a problem with Zhang Mao, and wanted to go up and question him.

Fu Han was so excited, he said it was for official business and to maintain order in the court, but in fact it was more because Lin Han was about to be promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Rites and took his position away.

Zhang Mao came over and said with a smile: "The old man is just discussing the matter. Although Lai Guogong often does things unruly, he still has to participate in the impeachment according to the normal rules. The ministers of the court should be like this. The old man has no self-assessment."

Zhang Zhouben was still walking with Zhang Mao. Hearing this, he had already strode forward.

Xu Qiong, Shen Lu and others did not shy away from walking with Zhang Zhou.

It's as if a party has formed over there.

Li Dongyang said: "Prince Yingying, are you impeaching Zhang Bingkuan? How can people think that you are doing both?"

"Really?" Zhang Mao sighed, "As Wu Jianzheng said, he mentioned that there will be catastrophic events in the future. You won't listen to such things, and you won't use such things to impeach him. Then The old man believed this, so he brought it up in the court. You have seen His Majesty's reaction, if the hailstorm really arrives in a few days, wouldn't that be in line with everyone's wishes, and the Zhang family boy can return home without a job?"

Fu Han said: "That's the truth, but do you think it's possible to predict the hail disaster in a few days, and even rely on such a disaster to make Zhang Bingkuan retire from office?"

Zhang Mao said helplessly: "Just say that you don't believe it, and see... how true is his reaction? Why don't you believe Wu Jianzheng once?"

Wu Hao listened beside him, that was aggrieved.

In fact, he could hear that, including Zhang Mao, no one seemed to think that what he said was reliable.

Zhang Mao attacked Zhang Zhou's words because he believed them?

Old man Zhang is clearly looking for a way out for himself... While following the trend and having to impeach Zhang Zhou, he still wants to find a way out for himself... Wu Hao also understood why the emperor and Zhang Zhou asked him to tell the news of the hail disaster Zhang Mao, because of Zhang Mao's character of an old fox like a fence-sitter, would use unreliable hail disaster predictions to impeach Zhang Zhou.

It seems that he, Zhang Mao, is standing on the side of the traditional minister to impeach Zhang Zhou, and at the same time he can use Zhang Zhou as a proxy... Look, I am helping you, as long as the hailstorm does not come in a few days, your majesty will not Is there no reason to dismiss you?My old man Zhang is helping you!

Li Dongyang said: "It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not now. The future hailstorm on Wuzi Day will not affect the impeachment of Zhang Bingkuan. Your Majesty has no objection to this, just wait."

Under Li Dongyang's maintenance of order, the crowd disbanded on the spot with outrage.

Many people were still chattering on the way out of the palace, all they were talking about was how to impeach and convict Zhang Zhou.

……

……

Cabinet value.

After the three members of the cabinet came back, even the people from Zhongshushe who came to deliver the memorial were not allowed to enter, and then Liu Jian convened a meeting of the highest decision-making level of civil servants of the Ming Dynasty.

"Binzhi, do you think that His Majesty's delay today is meaningless, and the impeachment in a few days will be as smooth as today? Or is it that His Majesty intends to delay this matter for a few days in order to divide and disintegrate the joint names?" Liu Jian is inferior to Li Dongyang in terms of resourcefulness, and he is more willing to listen to Li Dongyang's opinion.

Li Dongyang said: "I always feel that things are not that simple."

Xie Qian laughed and said, "How do you say that?"

Li Dongyang frowned and said: "Qin Tianjian Zheng Wu Hao, the past two years have been quite satisfactory, now when it comes to the impeachment of Zhang Bingkuan, he dared to take the lead, and directly predicted that there would be a hailstorm in the capital in four days, it's not like him things that can be done.”

"Hehe." Xie Qian smiled, "This kind of thing didn't come from him, could it be Zhang Bingkuan? Zhang Bingkuan would never use the disaster to impeach himself, would he?"

Li Dongyang thought for a while in silence, then shook his head and said, "I don't know. I just feel weird."

Liu Jian said: "But now Zhang Tingmian has listened to the warning from Qin Tianjian and used this action to impeach Zhang Bingkuan. Is there any reason for this?"

Li Dongyang was about to say something, when Xie Qian interjected, "Don't guess, just go and ask Qin Tianjian, isn't it good?"

"You can't ask for the result." Li Dongyang said, "Qin Tianjian dares to make a statement about disasters, so he should think about the consequences behind it. If the matter is not fulfilled, His Majesty will take Qin Tianjian first. Actually, I was thinking, if Wu Hao is not absolutely sure, so he shouldn't take this kind of inaccurate thing out of the muddy water, or because there is a reason to do it because of his last resort."

Liu Jian asked, "What do you think is the reason?"

Li Dongyang said seriously: "It's like the emperor's order is hard to break."

Liu Jian took a deep breath and said, "You mean, the hail disaster a few days later is nothing but a fiction. His Majesty asked Qin Tianjian to play it like this, and even asked Zhang Tingmian, who always likes to fish in troubled waters, to play it, so as to confuse the public. ?Actually, His Majesty's real intention is to give a few days of delay to disintegrate the joint name?"

Li Dongyang said: "It's not impossible. But I vaguely feel that things are not that simple."

Xie Qian asked, "How complicated can it be?"

This time even Li Dongyang was silent and did not answer.

After all, Li Dongyang has political foresight and resourcefulness. He felt that Wu Hao's behavior was very abnormal, but Zhang Mao's behavior did not exceed their expectations.

From what they knew, old man Zhang really likes to see stitches. When Zhang Mao was willing to come to impeach Zhang Zhou with the traditional civil servants this time, they felt that Zhang Mao might be playing tricks behind his back... As a result, the ghost really came. Although he was still participating in the impeachment of Zhang Zhou, he changed his tricks and talked about disasters, clearly with the intention of delaying and eluting Zhang Zhou.

"Yu Qiao." Liu Jian said, "Go back to Qin Tianjian and ask clearly. The matter of joint impeachment still cannot stop. The matter has already started, and there is no reason to avoid it. Even if it is another four or five days, after Wuzi Day Bringing up old things again, the momentum cannot be weaker than today."

Li Dongyang said: "I think it is more important to guard against the officials below His Majesty contacting the foreign ministers."

Liu Jian looked at Li Dongyang and said, "Binzhi, you should know that there were also internal officials involved in this matter. In fact, the government and the government are all in one mind. I'm afraid that Zhang Bingkuan will use His Majesty's trust to knock a gap in our monolith. A warning of a catastrophe is not a gap, but just the time to hit the gap... We have to fill the gaps everywhere, which requires all parties to be firm in their will, especially if we can't make any deviations!"

"Yes." Li Dongyang nodded.

Among the three, it seems to be him, Li Dongyang, who seems to be the firm one, but the weak link seems to be in him too.

……

……

As the planner of the incident, Zhang Zhou did not talk about the hail disaster warning when he talked with Xu Qiong and Shen Lu on the way out of the palace.

"It's nonsense, it's unbelievable, but a few days later, the disaster didn't come, they will still take the natural and man-made disasters of Ming Dynasty in the past few years, and force them to be attributed to you, the Duke of Lai. The Duke of Lai must be prepared. Good." Shen Lu reminded with a smile.

Shen Lu and Xu Qiong are still relatively calm.

They could see the emperor's trust in Zhang Zhou. On that day, all the officials participated in the impeachment of Zhang Zhou. Originally, the two of them seemed to be alone and unable to help much.

But just like that, Wu Hao and Zhang Maosheng opened up a "situation" and postponed the matter of impeachment for four days.

Of course, they don't think the so-called hail disaster can be realized.

Wu Hao can predict this kind of catastrophe, it is no different from a sow climbing a tree, believe him!

Zhang Zhou sighed: "Wu Jianzheng's words are so convincing that even the Duke of England has listened to him. I don't think things will happen. No matter what I think about it at that time, in the end, His Majesty can only send me away." Back to farming."

Shen Lu was surprised and asked: "Didn't Duke Lai personally calculate whether there will be hail disaster that day?"

"How do you calculate this?" Xu Qiong glanced at Shen Lu in the narration.

You Shen Lu, the more you talk, the more excited you become.

Talking about disasters and miracles is just a pretext. You don’t really think that every future event can be forewarned in advance, do you?We stand with Zhang Bingkuan not because he is a prophet, but because the emperor trusts him, and he is alone in the court. Similar to our situation, our party members need his support in the future. foothold.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Xu Butang, in fact, I have some ability in this point, and I have calculated that there may indeed be severe abnormal weather in the capital in the next few days. Even if the hailstorm comes, I don't feel surprised."

"What?" Xu Qiong frowned.

Shen Lu is energetic, but I think it is you, Zhang Bingkuan, who are even more energetic.

Shen Lu laughed and said, "This Great Ming Dynasty Hall is interesting. It's the place where you can spell alchemy? I'll come on stage after you sing? Hahaha..."

"Still laughing!" Xu Qiong gave Shen Lu another look.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Actually, it's okay. If I'm allowed to go back to my hometown and live a peaceful life for a few years, it's not bad."

Xu Qiong said coldly: "Mr. Lai, we are waiting to support you because we value your contribution to the Ming Dynasty in the future, and your ability to support the society and help His Majesty achieve a great cause. You can't just give up at a critical moment."

Zhang Zhou nodded and said, "Of course I also want to serve the imperial court well, but I'm afraid that the sky will not fulfill my wish."

"I'll walk around the court for you in the next few days." Xu Qiong said, "Bingkuan, who do you think may be the weak link in the court now? Is it the British government? The cabinet, or the six ministries? You can be more specific. I'll help you talk."

Xu Qiong's meeting is quite interesting.

If you want an alliance, in order to show your sincerity, you have to do things. His way of doing things is to be a lobbyist and disintegrate the "alliance against Zhang Zhou" that participated in the impeachment of Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhoudao: "If I have to choose, I think Mr. Li Ge may have his heart towards me."

"Binzhi? Don't think about it! He has always been prejudiced against you." Xu Qiong said.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "But I think, I have treated his son before and saved him from marrying the Kong family. He will never regard me as an enemy, right? Besides, I didn't directly offend him before."

Xu Qiong looked displeased. He felt that Zhang Zhou wouldn't "buy" Li Dongyang for a little "small favor" right?

Li Dongyang is more principled!

"Then I'll try later." Xu Qiong agreed, but didn't take it seriously.

Zhang Zhou didn't think it was a little favor that held Li Dongyang down, but more because of... This is "historical experience".

The greatest experience comes from something that has not yet happened, that is, in the "Inverted Eight Tigers Movement" a few years later in history, Liu Jian and Xie Qian became the victims with their heads, while Li Dongyang relied on turning around and waiting for room, unexpectedly Li Dongyang was not the one who really killed Liu Jin. During the few years when Liu Jin was in power, Li Dongyang, as the chief assistant minister, also completely followed Liu Jin's lead...

Li Dongyang just looks like a strong man.

The more resourceful a person is, the more he understands the truth that "a man can bend and stretch".

It's easy to put down the pick directly, but it's hard to bear the burden of humiliation.

Of course, whether Li Dongyang in history endured humiliation, or was greedy for fame and fortune... Only he, Li Dongyang, knows.

……

……

Zhang Zhou stepped out of the palace gate and was quickly stopped by Lin Han.

"Lin Shilang." Zhang Zhou walked over to salute Lin Han.

Lin Han also returned the courtesy, and then Lin Han greeted Zhang Zhou to get into his carriage.

"Bingkuan, what's the situation in the court today? Is His Majesty punishing you? Or did you discuss it with you a long time ago?" Lin Han's characteristic is that he can't hide things in his heart.

He saw something that was puzzling to him, and he could still talk to Zhang Zhou, so he couldn't help asking.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "It's been discussed a long time ago."

"Sure enough." Lin Han said, "The Qin Tianjian is using disasters to impeach you..."

"Isn't it British?" Zhang Zhou asked.

Lin Han said with a dark face, "It's all the same."

Zhang Zhoudao: "Oh, if the British Minister Counselor impeached me, I didn't discuss it, but I told Wu Hao about the news of the hailstorm a few days later."

"you!"

The true energy in Lin Han's body soared, almost toppling the roof of the carriage.

"Lin Shilang, please be safe and don't be impatient. I did this for a reason." Zhang Zhou said.

Lin Han anxiously said, "Do you know what this means? It would be fine if it was just a delay for a few days. Do you know that if you use this kind of thing to tease the officials of the government and the opposition..."

"I didn't tease them. I really calculated that four days later, the capital would be hit by rain and hail. This was done so that the people in the capital could take precautions early and reduce losses." Zhang Zhou seemed to speak righteously.

Lin Han said, "Are you impeaching yourself?"

Zhang Zhou shook his head: "Even if I didn't mention it, the hail disaster will still come four days later, and they will still use this matter to impeach me, the difference is not big."

Lin Han thought about it, and it was really like what Zhang Zhou said, whether there was an early warning is not the point, the point is that if there is a hailstorm, how could the ministers blame the emperor's favor on Zhang Zhou, Zhang Zhou is destined to be blamed of.

"Then what do you think?" Lin Han asked.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "I mentioned it to His Majesty, I want to go back to Jiangnan to see my relatives, not in the capital, so that I won't be blamed for any disasters in the capital in the future."

Lin Han said unhappily, "I have lived in the capital for so long, how many disasters have occurred in the capital? You have returned to your hometown because of the accident. Even if you live in the capital, can this disaster still be related to you?"

Zhang Zhoudao: "That's not certain. As long as I'm not dead, no matter where I am, any disaster will be pinned on me. Isn't this the usual style of officials in the court?"

Lin Han was quite speechless.

But he had nothing to say in rebuttal.

Because this time the ministers jointly participated in the impeachment of Zhang Zhou, isn't it just to blame Zhang Zhou for the natural and man-made disasters in various places in the past few years?
It seems... Zhang Zhou still understands the peeing nature of this group of people.

Zhang Zhou sighed: "Only if I leave the officialdom, or even leave the capital, and return to Nanjing to be an idler, so that if there is any disaster in the capital, I can avoid being held in the shit basin."

"It seems that you think there will be disasters in the capital in the future?" Lin Han frowned.

"Ha ha."

Zhang Zhou smiled but did not answer.

What is hailstorm?
It is a bit far-fetched to say that this kind of violent and abnormal weather is a warning from the sky, or it is a catastrophe.

After all, this kind of severe weather happens everywhere every year.

But the earthquake... or the Jingshi earthquake... If he was really caught by this kind of shit, then he would basically be sent to the [-]th floor of hell by those superstitious people.

So Zhang Zhou wanted to do the opposite.

During the earthquake in the capital, I was not in the officialdom, and I was not in the capital, so I asked you why you put this shit pot on my head?

The more important thing is... I have warned the emperor in advance about this earthquake. The emperor knows that this earthquake has nothing to do with any catastrophe... or the emperor offered to use disasters to help me stop the evil...

This is the highest state of calamity and strangeness.

(End of this chapter)