The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

After Li Zhang returned to Beijing, he immediately went to the palace to see Zhu Youtang.

When Zhu Youtang heard Li Zhang's story about the whole thing, he looked a little displeased and said: "Does that mean that the impeachment below was not groundless? After all, Jin Yiwei still amassed wealth that should not belong to them and enriched his own pockets? Look? Come on, Mou Bin, the commander, is about to come to an end!"

The eunuchs from the ceremonial department were all there.

When he heard the emperor say this, Xiao Jing was also surprised by how easily the new admiral, the eunuch Dongchang, shirked his responsibilities.

Li Zhang seemed to be afraid of getting into trouble, so he actually "sold" Mu Bin first.

Li Zhang said: "My servant has persuaded Commander Mou and asked for details, but it seems that he doesn't know much about it. Some things are easy at the beginning, but can't be dealt with in the middle, and the ending is even more difficult at the end."

Zhu Youtang was also a little annoyed and said: "What do you mean, my arrangement was wrong from the beginning?"

This way of shirk...

Xiao Jing was also wondering, why did Li Zhang blame the emperor?
  Shouldn't I help Cai Guogong settle local affairs? Is it making it difficult for Jin Yiwei to do his job?
  "Then what did you do when you went there?" Zhu Youtang glared at Li Zhang and asked as if he was angry.

Li Zhang respectfully said: "Before the slave arrived, Liu Yu, the governor of Jizhen, had sent someone to deliver a message to Cai Guogong. Although Cai Guogong did not accept it explicitly, things had turned for the better. The slave made his own decision and asked Commander Mou to come up with some money. I blocked the mouths of those who were working below, and then mentioned the matter to Cai Guogong, but Cai Guogong did not express his position on the spot."

"Humph." Zhu Youtang's face seemed to be filled with anger, "You are quite good at winning people's hearts. That money is not even mine, so why should you make the decision and take care of the people below?"

Li Zhang knelt down and said with sincerity: "It was my negligence, but the situation was urgent at that time, and Cai Guogong also expressed that he did not want to harm the enthusiasm of the Jin Yiwei people, so I made the decision without permission. Please forgive me."

"Alright!"

Zhu Youtang was angry, but he didn't seem to be angry to a certain extent. He said coldly, "I understand that you just took office and don't understand some of the rules, so I won't care about it this time. If you do this kind of self-assertion again in the future, Don't blame me for punishing you. Where is Bingkuan?"

At this point, Xiao Jing and others were a little confused again.

Emperor, what is this?

It clearly sounds like Li Zhang made a big mistake. Why didn't the emperor punish Li Zhang? But just give some verbal criticism?

Li Zhang said: "The servants of Duke Cai Guo are walking in one step. It is estimated that they will be able to enter the city before the city gate closes at sunset today."

"Alas!" Zhu Youtang sighed, "I haven't seen Bingkuan for a long time. I thought he would come back early and watch a show or have a meal with me. Since he came back late, Let him go back and rest for a day, and then arrange for him to come see me after tomorrow morning."

Li Zhang said: "My servant will go and deliver the message."

"Okay." Zhu Youtang said, "Tomorrow morning, I will also ask Mou Bin to go to court. I also want to hear what those who participated in his impeachment have to say. This court must be divided into several factions, and they will quarrel all day long. I am doing things for the imperial court, which really makes me worried."

After saying that, Zhu Youtang sent several people back, and Zhu Youtang himself went back to be with his wife and children.

……

……

In addition to Li Zhang, several other people from the Bureau of Ceremony were walking back to the value room.

Wei Bin said: "This Li Zhang is quite strange. He is unreliable in his work. He makes decisions privately without telling anyone. He dares to take the initiative to challenge the situation in front of His Majesty. He doesn't know how to write the word "death"."

Chen Kuan nodded and said: "Why do you think he did this so recklessly? Your Majesty forgives him. Could it be that you feel that you just transferred him and you are too embarrassed to just jerk him off?"

Based on Chen Kuan’s thoughts.

The emperor always wants to save face.

It was the emperor's sudden idea to let a little-known Li Zhang be the chief eunuch Bingbi and take charge of the East Factory. If he came up, he would be killed, which would be a slap in the face.

"Humph!"

Xiao Jing snorted, "You guys are fooled by lard. The man named Li is so cunning. If you don't expose him, you won't really be paralyzed by him, right?"

"Ah?" Chen Kuan and Wei Bin were both confused now.

Li Zhang's performance in the court just now can be described as a "disaster". It cannot be called a newcomer, but it is simply acting randomly, as if he knows nothing about the rules of the officialdom.

"You don't even think about it. With how cautious he has been in the palace for so many years, he doesn't know what to say and what not to say?" Xiao Jing said coldly.

The three of them were still walking together, but it didn't seem to affect the conversation.

Chen Kuandao: "Does this mean that he did it on purpose? What is he trying to do? Do you want to retreat early?"

Xiao Jing said with some annoyance: "If he is cautious and can do everything comprehensively, we don't have to worry too much, because he is just a mediocre person, or in other words, it will be the same no matter who he is."

"Yeah." Chen Kuan and Wei Bin both nodded.

The two of them have always lacked qualifications, and they don't see some things as clearly as Xiao Jing.

Xiao Jing continued: "The more he behaves like this, the more it means that he intends to show weakness in front of people like us, and to show that he is still junior and incompetent in front of His Majesty. If he changes to other urgent tasks, it will be exposing his shortcomings, but in the past In his current position, can this flaw be called a flaw?"

Wei Bin said with some annoyance: "Why didn't we think of this? He is just working for His Majesty and Cai Guogong. How much ability can Your Majesty ask of him? No matter how strong he is, Li Rong, so what? On the contrary, he is like now... ...Perhaps it will be more pleasing to His Majesty.”

Xiao Jing said: "Not only that, he even pretended to be a grandson in front of us! The less capable he is, the more neglectful and insensitive we are to him? But what? He has done everything he should do, and there is nothing missing. So, how can you say that his job this time was not good enough?"

Now Chen Kuan and Wei Bin were speechless.

"This afternoon, Mr. Cai Guogong is about to return to Beijing. I have been speculating that His Majesty has something big he wants to do but has not done it. But don't think this is a precursor to what His Majesty is going to do. If you still want to live in peace, be honest these two days. It's best to treat yourself as if you don't exist, but don't let His Majesty pay attention, otherwise you may not even be able to save your life."

While Xiao Jing was warning the two of them, he seemed to be trotting towards the check-in room.

The two people behind also hurriedly caught up.

There seemed to be a pressure that made the three of them breathless, but they couldn't tell what it was.

……

……

Zhang Zhou went on a trip and returned to Beijing half an hour earlier than expected.

When he came back, it was still early, so Zhang Zhou was not even in a hurry to go home. Instead, he went back to the war department first to deal with some of the military affairs on hand, which were all related to sending troops to various border towns.

Each town sent troops to patrol, which lasted for more than a month. Except for the Duoyan Guard paying tribute to Jizhou Town, which was a big gain, the other routes, including the route where Wang Shouren sent troops to Weininghai, also achieved nothing. It can be said that The Tatars chose to be a tortoise this summer when the water plants were in full bloom.

"Brother Zhang, I don't want to go back home. If there is nothing else, I will find a place to stay first and enter the palace together tomorrow."

Zhu Feng was afraid that his family would directly arrange a marriage for him, so he was ready to escape when he came back this time.

Zhang Zhou ignored him.

The two said goodbye at the gate of the Ministry of War Yamen.

Zhu Feng, Zhu Daqi and others had just left, and Zhang Zhou was about to get on the carriage, but he saw Li Zhang, Mu Bin and others appearing in front of the Yamen of the Ministry of War.

"Cai Guogong." Li Zhang came over and saluted.

Zhang Zhou asked: "Do you want to enter the palace under the imperial edict?"

Li Zhang said: "Not really. Your Majesty said that you have been tired all the way, so you should go back to the palace to rest first, and you can enter the palace early tomorrow morning. You don't have to come too early. Even if you come a little later, I think the officials in the court will understand." .”

"Then I really want to thank Your Majesty for your understanding." Zhang Zhou smiled.

Looking at Mou Bin, his expression was not very good. Firstly, it was because he was on the road without rest. Secondly, because of the matter in Yongping Mansion, Mou Bin became the scapegoat.

After Li Rong's death, it can be said that Mou Bin will be responsible for everything. "Then early tomorrow morning, we will wait at the gate of the palace for Duke Cai to arrive." Li Zhang was still respectful.

Zhang Zhou was wondering, this person looked extremely cautious, just to inform him of this matter?

"Come on."

Li Zhang immediately greeted him, "Send the expenses for Li Rong's funeral to Eunuch Li as soon as possible. Please forgive me, Mr. Cai Guo, Eunuch Li's funeral has been being dealt with. These days are the days when he will be encased and buried. Our family still has things to do." If you do, I won’t bother you anymore.”

"Ah."

Zhang Zhou heard it.

Li Zhang deliberately said this in front of him to show that Li Zhang and Li Rong were of the same mind.

Li Rong's funeral was originally carried out by the emperor. Li Zhang had already been to Yongping Mansion for nearly ten days. Logically speaking, Li Rong's affairs did not need to be handled by him after he returned to Beijing. This only meant that Li Zhang was not involved at the moment. Going to Li Rong's funeral was his own initiative, not the emperor's order.

……

……

Cai Guogong mansion.

Zhang Zhou had not been back for more than a month. When he got home, he suddenly felt tired. He originally told Jiang Pingyu that he would take a shower and change clothes before taking a good rest.

But after returning home, he fell down there and slept until late at night.

The body is still exhausted.

"old."

When Zhang Zhou got up, Jiang Pingyu and other girls had already gone to bed. Only Wang Mingshan, like a female saint, was still guarding Zhang Zhou's bed.

When Wang Mingshan saw Zhang Zhou getting up, she quickly called the door and asked someone to bring in hot tea.

"There is a note from the palace." Wang Mingshan handed something over.

Zhang Zhou took it over and saw that it was not a "note from the palace", but an imperial inscription written by the emperor that corresponded to the confession. It probably meant to tell Zhang Zhou what might happen in the future and what to do.

Wang Mingshan didn't know the emperor's handwriting, so she just thought someone had written something casually and sent it over.

"It's not a big deal. You should go back and rest quickly. Have you seen the child?"

"Ah."

Wang Mingshan used to be careless and a martial arts fanatic, but after getting married and having children, she became more and more concerned. In Zhang Zhou's words, no matter how stupid and cute a woman is, she still has an innate motherhood.

"I don't need anyone to take care of you. Isn't that nice? You should go to bed early and take good care of yourself at home these days. Maybe you will have to run around with me in the future."

Zhang Zhou suddenly felt that Wang Mingshan was still reasonable.

This kind of companionship is very much needed between people. Sometimes Wang Mingshan doesn't mean that she has a sense of mission and has to guard her, but maybe Wang Mingshan herself also needs this kind of companionship.

is mutual.

This will make Zhang Zhou feel that in fact, the woman around him has the deepest bond with him, but it is Wang Mingshan, a person who lacked love and care since she lost her mother since childhood.

This kind of attachment is also different from the kind of love between you and me, but more like it comes from reason and comes from the heart.

……

……

Early in the morning.

Before dawn, Zhang Zhou was about to enter the palace. Liu Gui took someone to accompany Zhang Zhou to the palace.

When they arrived in front of the palace gate, the ministers were still waiting to enter the palace. Zhang Zhou arrived not too early but not too late. After he arrived, the people who were still noisy suddenly fell silent and all looked over. It felt like I was looking at a stranger.

Zhang Zhou also knew very well that every time he came to the court, he could almost be the protagonist.

no way.

It is also because his temperament is completely different from that of ordinary ministers. He also has his own faction in the court, and his faction is considered to be the most prosperous.

After Zhang Zhou arrived, Zhang Mao came over first and greeted him with a smile: "Bingkuan is traveling, but what have you gained? Speaking of which, I miss you very much. My grandson at home is always saying that I miss you too much." Learn from his husband."

"Really?" Zhang Zhou said with a smile, "Zhang Lun only studied with me for a few days, I don't want him to be my disciple."

Zhang Mao said: "Being a teacher for one day will be a teacher for the rest of your life. It is only right to let him support Bingkuan in your old age."

"Ha ha."

Zhang Zhou smiled.

But I was murmuring in my heart, Zhang Lun is only ten years younger than me, why should he be the one to provide for me until I die? Why didn't he die first?

After Zhang Mao greeted Zhang Zhou, all the martial arts officers came over to get close to Zhang Zhou, while the civil servants only paid attention at first and then continued their private discussions.

Although Zhang Zhou couldn't hear clearly what they were talking about, he roughly guessed that they were not discussing issues targeting him, but also discussing issues that ignored him.

All in all...

This group of people did not treat him as a minister and thought of ways to exclude him.

……

……

Zhu Feng arrived very late. Before the ministers entered the palace, Zhu Feng came belatedly, but Mu Bin did not appear in the queue of ministers entering the palace.

Go to Fengtian Hall.

After all the ministers stood still, Mou Bin appeared near the door, but he was like a guard, still wearing the official uniform of the commander of the Jinyi Guards. Beside him was the governor of Beizhen Fusi Town who had just returned to Beijing with him. Guo Ang.

"Thank you, Mr. Ge, for borrowing it."

When entering the palace, Zhang Zhou went with Wu Xun, but after entering the palace gate, Zhang Zhou chose to side with the civil servants.

After all, he is the Minister of the Ministry of War, which is a first-class position among civil servants.

Xie Qian glanced at Zhang Zhou, then stepped aside and gave up his previous position to Zhang Zhou.

Ma Wensheng next to him smiled at Zhang Zhou, but looking at that smile, he seemed to be ready to have a verbal confrontation with him.

Zhang Zhou whispered: "Guys, let me remind you that I have taken care of everything over there. There is no need to argue about this anymore."

Hearing this, Zhong Zhong was surprised and looked at Xie Qian.

Xie Qian glanced back, as if to say, why are you listening to what he said?
  If you want to consider the intentions of your political opponents in their words, it is better to take the initiative and make the decisions yourself, rather than being controlled by others.

Just pretend he's farting. (End of chapter)