Ming Dynasty: At the beginning, the house was ransacked and the ancestral temple was burned down.

Chapter 14: Ungrateful?

To put it bluntly, Shen Shixing wants to be a good guy who doesn't stick to the pan, but as we all know, good guys are the easiest to bully.

No, as the head of hundreds of officials and a first-rank official, he was actually surrounded by a group of sixth- and seventh-rank civil servants represented by Yu Shi and Gui Shizhong, and he was unable to move even an inch.

If it were Zhang Juzheng, he would have gone crazy long ago.

"Mr. Shenge, it's ridiculous enough that the emperor has practiced frequently in the inner court in the past two years. Now Shengji has gone to war to inspect the three major camps. He practiced archery all afternoon. The emperor is so neglectful of his duties. As the head of hundreds of officials, do you have to do this all the time? Are you going to sit back and do nothing?”

Censor Li Zhi's words were sonorous and full of questioning. He was so angry that he almost poked Shen Shixing in the forehead with his finger.

Faced with Li Zhi's disrespectful act, Shen Shixing, the chief minister of the cabinet, was not angry. Instead, he calmly smiled and replied:

"Master Li, please don't get excited. When did I say sit back and ignore it? It's just that the emperor is still young and is in high spirits. Trying to persuade him at this time will only be counterproductive..."

"That's unreasonable!" Before Shen Shixing finished speaking, Li Zhi's censor Jiang Dongzhi forcibly interrupted:

"What does it mean that the emperor is still young? As the head of a hundred officials, not only can you not lead your father to be Yao and Shun, but you blame the emperor for being too young. What are your intentions?"

It was obvious that Jiang Dongzhi was deliberately making things difficult for others by taking words out of context, but Shen Shixing was still not angry. He just sighed helplessly: "You misunderstood... I didn't mean that..."

When the chief minister of the dynasty is so humble, such a picture is surprising and shocking no matter when and where it is placed.

Not far away, Dongchang Fanzi lurking in the corner silently recorded this scene.

Li Zhi and Jiang Dongzhi still took the lead and pressed Shen Shixing step by step, while Shen Shixing endured these difficulties with a look of helplessness, without any intention of fighting back.

Not everyone is as 'easy to bully' as Shen Shixing. Soon someone came angrily with long strides.

Although the person who came here was already over sixty years old, he was as fierce as a man in his prime. He walked very fast. The first thing he did when he came up was to block Shen Shixing behind him. Then he turned to Li Zhi. He shouted with Jiang Dongzhi and others:

"Shen Ge is the chief minister of the current cabinet and the emperor's teacher. How can you talk to Mr. Shen like this? He has a temper that you don't care about. I, Pan Jixun, don't have a bad temper! Come on! Come at me if you have anything. !”

Pan Jixun's roar actually frightened Li Zhi, Jiang Dongzhi and others into taking a few steps back.

This group of people had an impromptu idea. In excitement, they clapped their thighs and gathered together to surround Shen Shixing. Now that Pan Jixun was disturbed like this, the originally neat formation suddenly dispersed.

Li Zhi and others were not afraid of Pan Jixun, but they did not want to provoke Pan Jixun.

Pan Jixun is well known to everyone. This water control expert who has been in charge of rivers for many years is not only good at water control, but also has a notorious temper.

His level of irritability is no less than that of Gao Gong, the first assistant in the Longqing period. Once he provokes such a person, he will get into trouble, and it is really not worth it.

Li Zhi and others knew this very well, and immediately dispersed like birds and beasts, in twos and threes. Only Jiang Dongzhi stayed where he was, holding his head high and angrily saying to Pan Jixun:

"Master Pan, our duty as censor is to serve as the chief minister of the dynasty. Although Mr. Shenge is the chief minister of the dynasty, can't we correct his mistakes? Do you want us to be afraid of power and follow the influence of others?" , do what a villain does?"

Pan Jixun was so angry that he wanted to tear Jiang Dongzhi's mouth apart when such a big hat was slapped on him. He said angrily: "Don't slap the hat on me. If you have any objections, just go and write a memorial to the Holy One to impeach me!" Jiang Dongzhi sneered: "Then just wait, I'll go back and write right away!"

"Ah this..." Shen Shixing on the side stretched out his hand to persuade him, but he just said "Ah this" for a long time without saying anything.

"Let him impeach me. I want to see how sharp-tongued bastards like them can accuse me!" Pan Jixun said angrily, looking at the backs of Jiang Dongzhi and others as they hurried away.

It wasn't until Jiang Dongzhi and others had gone far that Shen Shixing said to Pan Jixun with guilt:
  "Weiliang, why do you have to stand up for me? They have been trying to force me to leave for more than a day or two, and now they have implicated you for nothing. This makes me feel so embarrassed..."

Shen Shixing seemed to be extremely guilty, and the corners of his eyes became moist. This shocked Pan Jixun, who had a big personality.

"Rumo, why are you hurting me? It's because I can't stand them, it's none of your business!" Pan Jixun said nonchalantly.

Shen Shixing rubbed the corners of his eyes and said helplessly: "Now is a troubled time. The whole court is in trouble. I am the person promoted by my uncle, and I am the target of public criticism. You should not stand up for me."

"You can't say that!" Pan Jixun held Shen Shixing's hand and said seriously:
  "I remember back then when I impeached Lin Shao for ruling He Wuju. In order to retaliate against me, he spread unfavorable rumors about me. At that time, if Uncle Zhang had not vigorously opposed all opinions and firmly believed and supported me, Lin Shao would have successfully countered the false accusation. And I don’t have the status I have today.”

"But..." Shen Shixing wanted to say something.

"I know what you want to say." Pan Jixun interrupted him and added: "I know you want me to distance myself from Zhang Shuda in order to protect myself. But I don't want to. I, Pan Jixun, am not an ungrateful person."

Speaking of old friends, Pan Jixun was a little moved. He looked at Shen Shixing with sad eyes:
  "Rumo... Even if Uncle Zhang was guilty during his lifetime, weren't all the offending things he did for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestors and the country, and the prosperity of the world?
  Do you still remember that at the last moment before he died, he was still asking about political affairs..."

This time, Shen Shixing did not answer Pan Jixun, but directly changed the subject and asked: "How is the progress of the Jiangling raid? Can Qiu Li give you any progress?"

Pan Jixun seemed to have been struck by bad luck, and his face suddenly turned ugly, "Qiu Li, can you report to me? I'm afraid he will report it directly to Li Zhi, Jiangdong and the others!"

Shen Shixing stretched out his hand to caress Pan Jixun's junior, and said calmly: "You are the Minister of Punishment, and he is the Right Assistant Minister of the Punishment Ministry. No matter what the situation is, according to the rules, he must report the matter to you first. I think it should be a search. There is no progress yet, so let’s wait.”

"It's still good news." Pan Jixun did not have high expectations for Qiu Li.

Although Qiu Li was his subordinate, this subordinate who appeared out of thin air was directly appointed by the emperor, and their relationship with him was even more intense.

Rather than waiting for Qiu Li to report to him, it would be better to wait for Yu Shenxing sent by Shen Shixing to send back the news.

"Having said that, although Jiangdong and the others are hateful, what they said is not unreasonable." Pan Jixun said earnestly:
  "In the past two years, the emperor has become more and more distracted from his duties. Not only does he frequently train eunuchs in the inner court, but now he also personally visits the three major camps. Rumo, this is not a good sign."

Shen Shixing shook his head helplessly: "To tell you the truth, I have actually persuaded the emperor in private a long time ago. However, the emperor wants to follow Chengzu as an example, and the emperor has never failed in his homework. Alas, I don't know how to persuade him. That’s it.”

"The emperor takes Chengzu as an example? This..." Pan Jixun's face became complicated:

"Chengzu has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, but the emperor has grown up among women in the palace since he was a child. If you say this, the emperor is more like the Yingzong..."

(End of this chapter)