Chapter 182 Late Night Visit
"Who's coming?"
In the residence of Zhao Nanxing, the Minister of Civil Affairs, Zhao Nanxing, who was reading "A Dream in Red Mansions" in the study to improve his knowledge, put down this adult book that has become a banned book: "Do you still understand the etiquette of visiting in the middle of the night?"
The housekeeper was outside the study. After getting permission, he leaned in and whispered: "Sir, this person calls himself Mr. Jinling Nalan..."
Zhao Nanxing was shocked. Why didn't he know this person? Isn't the book he was holding in his hand right now?
"Go and invite people in, and keep them safe to guard the mansion."
When Chen Cao walked into Zhao Nanxing's study, there were more than a dozen candles lit in the room. Compared with the previous brightness, it now illuminated a very spacious room.
The visitor was a well-known important member of the Eunuch Party, and Zhao Nanxing, as the leader of the Donglin Party, was naturally hostile to him.
"I wonder if Marquis Dingwu came to my house late at night to discuss something important?"
After Chen Cao sat down, he played with the tea cup first. The temperature was right. It seemed that it had been poured before Chen Cao came in: "How long has Mr. Zhao been an official?"
"Marquis Dingwu still has something to say. Even if you are an eunuch, I will not be afraid of you..."
Looking at Zhao Nanxing's righteous and awe-inspiring look, Chen Cao couldn't help but shake his head: "Master Zhao, today I, Chen Cao, come to visit as Jinling Nalan Rongruo, and I also come to visit Master Zhao as a scholar."
"Visiting me? Humph... You are just weasels giving New Year greetings to the rooster, so you have no good intentions..."
Zhao Nanxing stood up and looked at Chen Cao as he spoke: "If Marquis Dingwu comes here simply to ridicule me, then Marquis Dingwu will be disappointed. Come and see the guests off..."
"Don't worry..." Chen Cao didn't mean to leave. He picked up the tea cup and took a sip: "Well, Pu'er tea still suits my taste...
Mr. Zhao, today I, Chen Cao, come to save you for the sake of being a scholar..."
"Save me?" Zhao Nanxing turned to look at Chen Cao and smiled out of curiosity: "That's weird. Is there anything I need you to save?"
"I heard that Mr. Zhao is planning to transfer Xie Yingxiang to be the governor of Shanxi. I wonder if this is the case?"
As soon as Chen Cao finished speaking, Zhao Nanxing immediately realized that something was wrong. However, since he was also the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the Heavenly Officials of the Ming Dynasty naturally had to have the airs of Heavenly Officials.
I saw Zhao Nanxing slowly sitting back on the main seat, and then staring at Chen Cao: "What, you eunuchs want to interfere?"
Chen Cao put down his tea cup, looked at the old Minister of Civil Affairs, and then smiled and said: "Master Zhao, under the current situation of the court, if the eunuchs choose to intervene, what can you do?"
"You..." Zhao Nanxing couldn't refute. Since the Donglin Party had so many key members arrested and so many people died, the power of the Donglin Party has been greatly reduced: "Whoever is transferred must be approved by the Holy Emperor, and an imperial edict is required... ."
"Imperial edict?" Chen Cao raised his eyebrows: "Is Mr. Zhao perhaps forgetting who is in charge of the Supervisor of Ceremonies? Or is he forgetting who is in charge of the Cabinet?
Want an imperial edict? I can just write you one, is one enough? If it's not enough, I'll write you ten..."
Boom...
Zhao Nanxing slammed the table and cursed angrily: "Chen Cao, don't bully others too much. I'm not Zuo Guangdou or Yang Lian."
"I know..." Chen Cao crossed his legs nonchalantly: "Master Wei Guangwei, the great scholar, has arranged for Chen Jiuchou, the imperial censor, to impeach you at tomorrow's court. Even the contents of the excerpt have been written. It just so happens that I am here There is a copy, Mr. Zhao, do you want to read it?"
Zhao Nanxing sat up straight after hearing this, feeling a little excited: "What on earth are you going to do?"
"Hey..." Chen Cao took out the copy and threw it to Zhao Nanxing: "Master Zhao, I said, for the sake of scholars, I am here to save you this time."
"Sir, Master Gao is here..."
The butler's voice sounded outside the door. Zhao Nanxing was stunned when he heard the words, and asked Gao Panlong? Didn't you invite him?
Chen Cao smiled and said: "Master Zhao, don't panic, I called Gao Panlong..."
When Zhi Gao Panlong entered the study, he was stunned for a moment, and then said with a sullen face: "Mengbai (Zhao Nanxing's courtesy name), are you going to join the eunuchs?"
Zhao Nanxing was extremely embarrassed, so Chen Cao opened his mouth and said to himself: "A few days ago, Wei Dazhong and Xia Jia met Shu and the censor Chen Jiuchou to argue. I won't repeat what they argued about here, but these things The cause of this all lies with you two..."
Hearing this, Gao Panlong immediately understood what Chen Cao meant. He sat aside and said, "Don't talk nonsense, Marquis Dingwu. Xie Yingxiang is an upright man and has an excellent official reputation. Even in the big exam, he was outstanding in Taipu Temple. How? Can you be the governor of Shanxi?"
Chen Cao liked to talk with these sensible people, so he said: "Let me put it this way, I will repeat it again, today I am here to save you, not to harm you. Mr. Zhao, please read the memorial first."
Zhao Nanxing picked up the copy from the table, opened it, frowned, and then became discouraged. Gao Panlong also took the copy, took a look, and immediately shouted: "These scum are going to kill me."
"No..." Chen Cao waved his hand: "I am here today to save you and give you some advice."
"Are you so kind?" Gao Panlong glared: "You, Chen Cao, are Wei Zhongxian's good dog..."
Chen Cao was not angry either, he just kept smiling: "To be honest, I had a close relationship with the former Minister of Civil Affairs, Zhang Wenda. He was used by Wei Zhongxian and died. I am here to avenge him this time."
When Zhang Wenda was mentioned, both of them calmed down, but the eunuch was so cunning that neither of them trusted Chen Cao.
Seeing this, Chen Cao stood up and went to the brazier and sat down to warm himself: "How about it, once this memorial is published, Master Zhao will only have to resign? Then Master Gao, who signed the memorial together with Master Zhao, must also take the blame and resign. Alright?"
Both of them knew what was going on, and smart people didn't need to say too much.
Chen Cao rubbed his hands: "Let me tell you this, after the dynasty tomorrow, you two will definitely be dismissed from office. Neither the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel nor the censor of Zuodu will be able to serve as officials. Do you know who will take over?"
Wang Shaohui was appointed as the censor of Zuodu, and Cui Jingrong was appointed as Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs to take charge of the affairs of the government. Now among the seven cabinet members, five are from the eunuch party, one is from the Donglin party, and the other is from the Chu party. The cabinet is already in the hands of Wei Zhongxian. As long as we take down you two, the dictatorship of the eunuch party will be completed..."
"The late emperor..." Gao Panlong cried in a low voice: "If the temple emperor is still here, how can he let these people do whatever they want... A castrated dog harms the country... A castrated dog harms the country..."
"Chen Cao, are you really here to save us?" Zhao Nanxing looked at him with a frown.
Chen Cao nodded: "That's natural, otherwise why would I come to see Mr. Zhao in the middle of the night and you tricked Mr. Gao into coming here?"
"Are you?"
Chen Cao laughed loudly: "As I said, although I am an eunuch, I am a scholar. Although I, Chen Cao, look down on your Donglin Party, I also cannot stand the eunuch. I, Chen Cao, have not forgotten the teachings of the saint."
"Then you are still an accomplice to cause trouble in Zhejiang?" Zhao Nanxing asked.
Chen Cao shook his head: "It's not that I brought trouble to Zhejiang, but that you, the Donglin Party, are too self-righteous. If you look at the fate of Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou, you will know that what you did back then was just digging graves for yourselves in the future. Just oneself;
Now the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party are in the same situation. There are slaves outside the country who are knocking off the gates, and there are refugees rebelling inside. I, Chen Cao, am doing this for the people of the Ming Dynasty, not for your benefit. I am taking the risk to rescue you today just for the sake of Just try to delay Wei Zhongxian's steps to bring trouble to the world. "
The two of them were shocked. Seeing how urgent the situation was, Zhao Nanxing also lost his aura as a leader of the Donglin Party and handed over to Chen Cao: "How can Marquis Dingwu save us?"
"To be honest, I, Chen Cao, can't protect myself now." Chen Cao didn't hide anything, and directly told his secret: "Although Wei Zhongxian hasn't touched me now, it's because I am still useful to the Holy One, and the Holy One still wants to Follow me, if you...
If you can't see the emperor, then whatever Wei Zhongxian says means nothing..."
"Isn't that Liu Jin of Wu Zongchao?" Gao Panlong said in horror.
"No, at least there was no party strife at that time. The goals of the civil servants in North Korea and China were the same. More importantly, they could often see Emperor Wuzong. What about you?
You haven't seen the emperor for at least a month. "
Don't tell me, they haven't seen it yet.
"Then what should we do?" Zhao Nanxing asked.
Chen Cao said: "There is only one way now. While your people are still asleep, contact people quickly. If Chen Jiuchou makes an attack in the court tomorrow and you can't see the emperor, you can kneel down in the Square of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. By the way, Just cry loudly.”
This was the method chosen by those civil servants during the Wu Zong Dynasty when they were competing with Liu Jin. At least they could save their lives.
"It makes sense..." Gao Panlong nodded repeatedly.
"Then what if..."
Chen Cao knew what Zhao Nanxing was going to say, so he interrupted him: "Don't worry, Mr. Zhao. After the dynasty, if your majesty wants to see me, I will have my own way to deal with it, but we have to discuss some things carefully."
"That's fine..."
...
At the end of December, the last great dynasty in the fifth year of Apocalypse, when civil and military officials gathered in the repaired Palace of Supreme Harmony Square, they did not see Emperor Apocalypse on the dragon throne.
The empty throne was placed in the middle, while Wei Zhongxian stood beside him in a python robe, taking the place of Zhu Youxiao and conferring with the officials. This situation had been going on for a whole month.
"Each ministry has its own foundation and will report early, but without its foundation, it will be withdrawn from the court..."
With the shouts of the eunuch who delivered the order, this sentence was spread far and wide.
The quiet Square of the Hall of Supreme Harmony was like a closed loudspeaker, conveying this strange sentence.
"I have something to report to Sun Yuandian from the Criminal Division:
Last month, an envoy from Japan said that our Ming Dynasty troops appeared in Japan and acted recklessly and in large numbers. Japan is a country that Emperor Taizu did not order to conquer. After investigation, it was Dingwu, the commander-in-chief of the New Army Dingwu Army. The troops led by Hou Chencao are in Japan. This move is detrimental to the dignity of our country tomorrow. I request your Majesty to investigate it carefully and severely punish the culprits..."
Chen Cao raised his head, what did he mean by this?
