Having not returned to the capital for such a long time, Zhao Feng was completely unaware of the current situation in the capital. If he had inquired a little bit from Zhou Kang before coming back, he would not have encountered such a thing.
It's a pity that there are not so many things in the world that can be known early. Zhao Feng simply dealt with the piled up memorials, and then selected some of the more important ones. He took these memorials to the palace and asked to see Zhou Zhen.
When Zhou Zhen heard about Zhou Tong's return, he knew that Zhao Feng had returned with Zhou Tong, and he also guessed when Zhao Feng would come to find him.
When he heard Zhao Feng asking for a meeting outside, a smile appeared on Zhou Zhen's lips.
"Let him in."
The personal eunuch walked out quickly and asked Zhao Feng to come in to meet His Majesty. Zhao Feng walked in respectfully, put the memorials on the table, took two steps back, and said with a very respectful hand.
"Your Majesty, please pay homage to your Majesty!"
Zhou Zhen raised his head and looked at Zhao Feng, with a half-smile expression on his face.
"No gifts."
Zhao Feng bowed respectfully again: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Before Zhao Feng could speak after standing up, Zhou Zhen could not wait to speak.
"I have heard about what you have been doing in Zhou Tong's land during this period. I didn't expect that everyone ignored your talent. In just half a year, you made a small land comparable to that of Zhou Tong. tax!"
An imperceptible smile appeared on Zhao Feng's face. Zhou Zhen had asked him to develop in Zhou Tong's fief before. Now that he heard Zhou Zhen's disguised praise, Zhao Feng also felt a little happy in his heart.
But Zhou Zhen's words immediately made Zhao Feng's heart skip a beat.
"I think it's time for you to return to the court."
Zhao Feng looked at Zhou Zhen very puzzled, and then asked.
"Your Majesty, the construction of the fiefdom of Your Highness the Princess has been very good, and many constructions have only just been completed, and the goals in my mind have not been completed. Why does Your Majesty want me to return to the court?"
Zhou Zhen sighed softly and said.
"The court has not been stable in the six months since you left."
"Now these four major families have openly formed cliques and cliques for personal gain. I am worried that if they continue like this, the foundation of the dynasty will be unstable!"
When Zhao Feng heard this, he pretended to be thoughtful on the surface, but in fact he was a little speechless in his heart.
What Zhou Zhen said didn't mean that when Zhao Feng was in the court, the officials of the four major families regarded Zhao Feng as a target and tried their best to attack Zhao Feng, so they didn't care about each other at all. Fight, but now that Zhao Feng has left the court, they are no longer threatened by Zhao Feng, can they fight with each other?
Now that Zhao Feng is coming back, he is actually using Zhao Feng as a shield!
Although he felt that his mother was selling him, Zhao Feng's face showed a look of deep thought.
"Your Majesty, I didn't expect these officials to dare to do this!"
Zhou Zhen raised his eyes and looked at Zhao Feng, gently stroking his beard.
Only then did Zhao Feng notice that Zhou Zhen's beard had turned gray, and even his temples had many white hairs.
After all, Zhou Zhen is over 50 years old this year. Many emperors died early in history, but few lived long. Zhou Zhen is already considered a relatively long-lived emperor, having sat on the throne for more than 20 years.
Although Zhou Zhen adhered to the golden mean in many aspects, this prevented the Zhou Dynasty from falling into a dilemma.
Thinking of this, Zhao Feng suddenly understood why Zhou Zhen let him return to the court.
But Zhao Feng had other ideas in mind.
"Your Majesty, I actually feel that it is not the best time for me to return to the court."
Zhou Zhen looked at Zhao Feng with some confusion. Zhao Feng had always obeyed his words before. It was precisely because Zhao Feng knew his duty as a minister that Zhou Zhen trusted Zhao Feng.
Otherwise, considering Zhao Feng's talent, Zhou Zhen would have long been worried that Zhao Feng's superior skills would shock the master.
"Why?"
Zhao Feng took a deep breath and looked at Zhou Zhen very seriously.
"Your Majesty, I left the court before due to the failure of the reform. If I return to the court this time, even if Your Majesty does not have such thoughts in his heart, he will send a message to the ministers inside and outside the court, that is, the reform will continue. Got it!"
Zhou Zhen took a deep breath and nodded slowly.
"You are right. There are not many people supporting your new policies right now, so do you want to give yourself some time to continue developing?"
Zhao Feng nodded lightly, and Zhou Zhen sighed slowly.
"I respect your decision. You are right. If there are some changes in the court now, it may cause even greater disturbances. Then I may not be able to suppress it!"
"I originally thought that I wanted Zhongshu Ling to retire and return to his hometown. After you return to the court, I would promote you to Zhongshu Ling, but now it seems that I can only let him stay in this position for a while longer."
Zhao Feng took a deep breath and looked at Zhou Zhen in disbelief.
The reason why people from the four major families agreed to let him enter the court and become a member of Zhongshushe was because there was not much possibility of promotion in this position.
In fact, the court hall has always been divided into two parts: the inner and outer parts. The outer part contains the six ministries and all the officials in the world, while the inner part is equivalent to the important ministers, and only those officials from the three provinces are among them.
Why is Feng Shen called the prime minister? It's because he is the minister of the Shangshu Province!
If Zhao Feng is promoted to Zhongshu Ling, he will actually have the same authority as the Prime Minister. At Zhao Feng's current age, if he is asked to be Zhongshu Ling, many officials will definitely be dissatisfied, so this is actually Zhou Zhen's I want to use this incident to attract the contradictions of those officials.
Thinking of this, Zhao Feng couldn't help but cursed secretly. Fortunately, he had just persuaded Zhou Zhen to give up this idea.
But at this moment, Zhou Zhen raised his head and looked at Zhao Feng.
"But there's not much time left for you. It's up to you to see how far you can go in the six months I give you!"
Zhao Feng smiled bitterly and nodded slowly.
Zhou Zhen meant to give him another half year to develop in Zhou Tong's fiefdom. If he could accumulate his own power in this half year and make many officials in the world admire him, then in the future Promoting him to Zhongshu Ling was a matter of course.
But if Zhao Feng cannot do it, if he becomes the Zhongshu Ling, he will become the target of public criticism, and he will have to face the attacks of the officials in the court in the future!
Zhao Feng smiled bitterly and was about to leave, but Zhou Zhen raised his hand and said to Zhao Feng.
"There's no rush. You just happened to be here this time, so come with me for a walk around the harem. The queen wants to see you."
Zhao Feng looked at Zhou Zhen with some surprise, while Zhou Zhen smiled slightly.
