The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

As soon as Zhang Zhou returned to the capital, he was almost overwhelmed by visitors.

Even Zhang Zhou himself did not expect that he would be remembered by so many people after he returned from a trip to the capital. He had not done anything too sensational in the past two months, and suddenly he seemed to have gained status in the court. and fame, and began to be regarded as a pillar of future greatness.

Zhang Zhou himself, on the other hand, had no interest in receiving visitors.

It just so happened that Zhu Feng had nothing to do in the capital recently, so he asked Zhu Feng to come over and help him greet the guests. His "old house" outside Dong'an Gate became a reception hall, with all kinds of people meeting him. It seems that he has face, but there is nothing he can do to help. After all, Zhu Feng himself has no power, let alone helping others.

Zhang Zhou himself can take care of himself.

But there will also be some people who come to visit, and Zhang Zhou has to greet them personally. Although it is just a courtesy, these people are basically the powerful people in the court.

As soon as August arrived, Zhang Mao personally brought his grandson Zhang Lun to visit. Zhang Lun was also out and about for the first time since he was injured and recuperated before summer. Zhang Mao seemed to have taken great pains to make his grandson meritorious.

However, Zhang Zhou understood that Old Man Zhang was just using his grandson as a medium to find opportunities to have more contact with him.

"Bingkuan, your place is actually very spacious. You don't want to use it as an outhouse or something? I haven't heard of you having any village outside the city. Among the princes and ministers in the capital, none of them have fertile land outside the city. One hundred hectares? If you don’t understand something, you can tell me and I’ll find someone to do it for you.”

After Zhang Mao arrived, he first commented on the house.

He was probably a little envious. After all, this house was gifted to Zhang Zhou by the emperor. As the first place Zhang Zhou lived after entering the capital, it was spacious and bright.

Zhang Zhou said: "Personal preferences vary. That's just the way I am. If His Majesty hadn't given it to me, I would rather just find a courtyard to live in. I still don't care much about external affairs."

That's what he said, but in fact Zhang Zhou knew very well that he was the person who knew how to enjoy things best.

It’s a rare trip to Daming, so why should I ask for hardship?

Of course, if you have power, you should enjoy the things that you have not enjoyed in your previous life, and on the basis of enjoying yourself in time, you can also complete some ideals. As for reforms and so on... Although the ideals are lofty, but in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, such a In a relatively stable and complex period, any changes to the old rules will bring huge backlash.

Zhang Zhou asked himself that he didn't have that much energy.

It is also because Zhu Youtang is a relatively cautious person. He trusts Zhang Zhou but will not let Zhang Zhou do whatever he wants. But if Zhu Houzhao ascends the throne...

"Salute sir." Zhang Mao glared at his grandson after sitting down in the main hall.

Zhang Lun was about to bow down.

Zhang Zhou stretched out his hand to stop him and said, "Mr. British, what do you mean?"

Zhang Mao said with a smile: "Today is the official time for him to come to apprentice. From now on, you can treat him as your own junior, and you can beat and scold him casually. After becoming your apprentice, you don't ask for anything in return. He just wants to run errands for you. He also He is young and has light legs. He will not be tired of working for you. If he dares to complain, you can beat him to death!"

Previously, he said that as long as he gave Zhang Zhou a chance to deal with Zhang Lun, he could do whatever he wanted.

Now Old Man Zhang doesn't even care about his grandson's life... Of course, no one will take his grandson's life.

Zhang Zhou sighed: "I don't have to say anything about becoming a disciple. There are many rules in the sect, and I can't break the rules casually."

"Your master..."

How could Zhang Mao not hear that this was actually Zhang Zhou's excuse?

"Although my tutor travels all over the world and I haven't seen him in recent years, the rules still have to be followed. If you can't see your tutor, it's okay to ask for permission from your majesty." Zhang Zhou would not give Zhang Mao any depth with him. Opportunity to bind.

Zhang Lun can work with him, but it is obviously not suitable to enter the teacher directly.

Even Tang Yin and Zhang Zhou only regarded him as their junior brother instead of accepting him as their apprentice.

It seems that if you accept a disciple and become a master, you will be very comfortable and enjoy the fun of supervising people. But in fact, you will also bear the responsibility of being a teacher. If the disciple makes a mistake, the teacher will be blamed for lax discipline. , Zhang Zhou will not cause trouble for himself for no reason.

"Bingkuan, if you accept a disciple, he will either learn from your... profound Taoism, or let him learn from you how to fight and run an army... You don't have to do anything, just listen to the master." Zhang Mao asked. He said, "Or, do you have any worries that you don't want to share with outsiders?"

Zhang Zhou glanced at Old Man Zhang coldly.

You know it and you still say it?

I, Mr. Zhang, have made so many enemies in the court. If they cannot attack me, they will naturally attack the people around me. Even my father-in-law, Jiang Dezhong, will often be taken advantage of by you people. If I close the door Disciple, they insist on using this disciple as a breakthrough point to ruin my reputation.

You, Old Man Zhang, don’t care about this?

"It's better to be cautious," Zhang Zhou said. "When doing things in court, you often have to do things yourself."

"Ha ha."

Zhang Mao did not expect that Zhang Zhou would refuse. He originally offered his grandson as Zhang Zhou's disciple, which meant that the British government would have something to ask of Zhang Zhou in the future, and he would be inferior in stature, especially if Zhang Lun became a British official in the future. Duke, from then on I will always respect Cai Guogong as my teacher.

But even so, Zhang Zhou still seemed so unhuman.

"Bingkuan, I didn't expect that such a thing would put you in such a difficult situation. Then I will go and ask your Majesty for instructions." Zhang Mao could only compromise first.

If someone doesn't accept his grandson as a disciple, he can't force him to do so. He still has to follow the rules in many things.

Zhang Zhou looked at Zhang Lun with a smile and said: "It is true that Zhang Lun has gained practical experience on the battlefield and has gradually become more stable in his work. In the future, he can come to the Yanwu Hall to help and learn at the same time as a teacher."

"Huh?" Zhang Lun was still thinking, why don't you accept me as a disciple?

After hearing this, he became even more confused.

Zhang Maodao: "You kid, didn't you hear what Mr. Cai Guogong said? Do your best in the future, especially listen to your words, Mr. Zhang. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Zhang Lun responded quickly.

This is equivalent to an informal apprenticeship, but it allows Zhang Lun to continue to follow him in the future, which can be regarded as paving the way for Zhang Lun.

"Bingkuan, there is one more thing. Zhang Lun, you go out first."

Zhang Mao wanted to talk to Zhang Zhou about "business" in the blink of an eye, so he wanted to send Zhang Lun away to wait.

……

……

Only after Zhang Zhou and Zhang Mao were left in the room did Zhang Mao start talking.

"The officialdom in Nanjing has been a bit unstable recently. It is said that many people will lose their jobs. There are also officialdoms in various places in Jiangnan. I heard that His Majesty also intends to rectify the situation recently." Zhang Mao obviously came here to hear the news.

Zhang Zhou said: "I haven't been in Beijing recently. I don't know much about the news from the south."

In Zhang Zhou's view, most of the rumors about officialdom were aimed at him. It doesn't matter whether there is rectification or not. What is important is that there are rumors of rectification, making people think that the emperor wants to use Zhang Zhou to rectify all aspects of the DPRK and China.

Zhang Zhou has very few comrades in the court, and most of them have no real contact with him. Since they are not his disciples, with the blessing of such rumors, the officials have only two choices...

One is to find ways to join Zhang Zhou.

The second is to stand on the opposite side of Zhang Zhou and resist Zhang Zhou's rectification.

Zhang Zhou said: "It's all rumors from the outside. It's really not accurate. Even if it's true, His Majesty didn't mention it to me. However, there have been a lot of people visiting my house recently, and I always let Zhijie deal with them."

"Haha." Zhang Mao said with a smile, "You should know why they came, right?"

"Even if they have a purpose, it's useless to come to see me. Firstly, I really don't know the joints, and secondly, even if I know, there is actually nothing I can do to help. If, as the British gentleman said, this time is Nanjing's officialdom and officials in the southern provinces are being reorganized, so what can I, a civil servant in Beijing, do to help?"

Zhang Zhou deliberately emphasized that he was a civil servant.

At the same time, he is also telling Zhang Mao that as a martial artist, you should not worry about so many things.

Zhang Mao said: "Bingkuan, you are also a role model for our generation. There are so many officials who were born as Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty. Which one can be promoted to a high position like you? You shouldn't regard yourself as a literati. Sometimes... you still have to Think more comprehensively.”

Not only should he take care of the affairs of civil servants, but he should also take into account the interests of Wu Xun.

Zhang Zhou nodded and said: "The British public opinion is reasonable. In fact, I think it is so. Even if I want to interfere with the affairs of civil servants sometimes, I have no chance to interfere, right?"

"Ha ha……"

Zhang Mao laughed.

Now he suddenly felt closer to Zhang Zhou.

Because in the court, the people who can truly consider the issue from Zhang Zhou's point of view are not the civil servants in Dongban, but their martial arts heroes. It is precisely because Zhang Mao understands this clearly that he will continue to He supported Zhang Zhou in the court.

Regardless of whether Zhang Zhou admits that he and Wu Xun are in the same group, this fact must be settled first.

What other people think is important.

"Then if His Majesty mentions this matter to you... I said that if that is the case, you still have to maintain some people. Do you think that the people in the capital are still very prejudiced against you. They want to handle the relationship well and make good use of Nanjing's officialdom. The middle man has been of great help to you."

Zhang Mao smiled and made a suggestion.

But in fact, it was also telling Zhang Zhou in disguise that many people from the south came to see Zhang Mao and wanted to establish this kind of communication relationship through Zhang Mao.

Aren’t all the big guys in the officialdom of the capital looking at you, Zhang Bingkuan, with both noses and eyebrows?

We people in the Nanjing officialdom are different. We are originally a group of frustrated people. We are guarding the Qingshui Yamen in Nanjing and are always so far away from Tianyan. As long as you can help us rise to power, then we are willing to stand in your position.

Zhang Zhou said: "It seems that I am still so unpopular in the court. I always have to find ways to get others to forgive me."

Zhang Mao was startled, then smiled and said: "Aren't you belittling yourself? Others are jealous of you. Sometimes, even I envy you. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, except for the founding heroes, who can Like you? I am ashamed of myself."

"Master Zhang, do you want to give me a list or something? So that I can know what's going on?" Zhang Zhou said.

"Ok?"

Zhang Mao hesitated for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said: "There is no list, just say a few words for them. Even if you finish talking, I will still find you one by one. It is still a long way from the capital to Yingtian Mansion. ah."

……

……

in the palace.

Zhu Youtang summoned Zhang Zhou as a routine. The two sat down to work together first, and then had lunch together. In the afternoon, Zhu Youtang called Zhang Zhou to the palace houyuan, and the two sat in the pavilion to drink in the crisp autumn air. Tea.

"The British Lord is right. I do want to rectify the officialdom, or is it because... they are biased against you, Bingkuan. I feel that a group of pedantic veterans are really not as good as the capable rising stars you recommended. If all the people are qualified for the job, why should we talk about seniority? It’s too rigid!”

Zhu Youtang didn't hide it either.

It was because of Zhang Zhou that I wanted to change the people in the officialdom. To put it bluntly, it was to facilitate the gradual implementation of Zhang Zhou's policies.

Zhang Zhou said: "After I returned to Beijing, many people came to visit me."

"Yes." Zhu Youtang nodded, "I have also heard that it is right for them to visit. Don't they still know who they should visit at this time? Not everyone wants to do Yingtian Mansion's errands Yes, don’t they want to go back to Beijing?”

Zhang Zhou could understand what Zhu Youtang meant.

Zhu Youtang was saying that there were rumors in the court about rectifying the Nanjing officialdom, which seemed to be aimed at Zhang Zhou, but the Nanjing officialdom should know that if they want to rise to power, they must take this opportunity to build a good relationship with Zhang Zhou.

Otherwise, even the chance to become an official in Beijing will be gone.

Counting on traditional civil servants... They have already sent you to Nanjing to serve as officials, keeping you away from the right and wrong of the capital. Do you still want to count on them?

"Bingkuan, since last year, everything in the officialdom has actually been very stable, but there are always some positions that need to be moved. If you have any ideas, just tell me directly, and I will try my best to bring some people back. "

Zhu Youtang just said, if you have any comrades, just recommend them to me, and I will put them in the position you want them to do.

This is asking Zhang Zhou to practice nepotism.

"Your Majesty, I don't have many ideas. I just feel that... we can actually add a more comprehensive assessment system to the administration of officials, and it will not be based on the previous evaluation of the administration of officials as the complete standard."

Zhang Zhou always wants to add some content.

If the emperor trusts him to this extent, and he doesn't even recommend a comrade, why can't he still do something about the promotion channels?

If he really gives in to everything, it may make civil servants even more upset.

"Ah."

Zhu Youtang said, "I also think so. In fact, in the past, the assessment of officials' performance was mostly based on some traditional and pedantic standards. Some of them, those who were capable, did not dare to practice it in the end. The result was that everyone Fall into mediocrity.”

Zhang Zhou said: "I think so too. It is precisely because some people are unable to realize their ambitions that they muddle along and do not pursue their political goals in their positions."

"Okay." Zhu Youtang said, "Then you can give some detailed standards, just in conjunction with the rectification of the army, so that people know who will take the lead in this matter, and also let them know who to move closer to! I did all this not only to fight with foreign barbarians, but also for the long-term peace and stability of the imperial court." (End of Chapter)