It was late at night and the rain was falling heavily.
In the hall of the British government, Zhang Xi stood up and cupped his hands.
"...In this case, I will ask Mr. Luo to take care of the matter this time. I can't be of much help with the court affairs, but if there is anything we can do to help, we will do our best. Please rest assured, Mr. Luo. "
Luo Tong also stood up, cupped his hands and said, "How dare you? Although this is a risky move, since it is for the safety of the Supreme Emperor, Luo is bound to do it."
After agreeing on the plan, everyone stood up one after another without staying much, saluted each other, and then left.
After sending the person out, Zhang Min returned to the hall again, only to see Ningyang Bo Chen Mao and Jiang Yi, who were supposed to leave through the west small door, were still sitting in the same place.
Zhang Min was not surprised. He let out a long sigh of relief and cupped his fists at Chen Mao.
"I had no choice but to wrong Brother Shun Qing."
Chen Mao picked up the tea cup on the table and slowly sipped the tea. When he put the tea cup down, his face was no longer gloomy and became extremely calm, and he said calmly.
"It's okay for me to feel aggrieved, but are you sure this Luo Tong is really trustworthy?"
Zhang Min pondered for a moment, took out a letter from his sleeve, handed it to Chen Mao, and said.
"This is the letter left by Yang Shan before he left. Brother Shunqing can read it. The letter actually praises Luo Tong. He feels that he can be our thorn in the civil servants and should be credible."
"What I told him in front of him just now was true. My third brother also mentioned him to me, but... I didn't think highly of him."
Chen Mao took the letter and did not open it in a hurry. Instead, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Oh? What did the Third Master say?"
Since the death of the British Duke Zhang Fu, among them, in terms of military achievements, Chen Mao is definitely the one, but in terms of planning and knowledge, Zhang Fu is definitely the one.
Because of this, he was able to successfully stabilize the power of the British government.
Therefore, Chen Mao was still convinced by Zhang Fu's words.
Zhang Min thought for a while and said: "The third brother said at that time that this person is brave and resourceful, and has been favored by the emperor, but his personal ethics are not good. He is fond of success, eager for quick success, and partial and narrow-minded. If you want to use him, you need to hold his hand." handle."
Chen Mao nodded, opened the letter, read it carefully, closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and then asked.
"So, if Luo Tong can appear here today, I guess the second master already has something in his hands?"
Zhang Min did not answer directly, but stood up and gave a few instructions, and then an old servant in the mansion brought up a delicate small box.
He ordered someone to place the box in front of Chen Mao, then turned to Jiang Yi and said.
"This matter has something to do with Dingxihou Mansion. It's up to Brother Jiang to do the talking."
Jiang Yi nodded and opened the box. Chen Mao glanced at it and found a small pile of letters. He picked it up and took a look. It was signed by Luo Tong.
He looked at Jiang Yi suspiciously, and the latter didn't show any concern and said.
"Brother Shunqing doesn't know. Although this Luo Tong is good at both civil and military affairs, he is greedy for money, lustful, and very courageous. In his early years, he was helped by the Dingxi Marquis Mansion."
"That was eight or nine years ago. Luo Tong was appointed as a doctor in the Ministry of War. He went to Gansu with Wang Ji, the minister at that time, to organize border affairs. As a result, he was so bold that he not only embezzled money but also resold a batch of weapons. Brother Shun Qing did this. Heard?”
Chen Mao frowned and thought for a while, but he was somewhat impressed.
Eighty-nine years ago, he happened to be in the capital because he failed to guard the border and was punished to reflect on his mistakes.
He vaguely remembered that there was such a thing, but at that time, Luo Tong was just a doctor in the Ministry of War, not a big shot, so he only had some impressions, but could not remember what the specific thing was.
However, after listening to Jiang Yi's words, Chen Mao felt a trace of doubt in his heart and asked: "Reselling weapons? This is not a trivial matter. I have never remembered that such a thing has happened in the army in these years!"
Although Luo Tong was a small person at the time, reselling weapons was a serious crime even in the military.
If there is such a thing, Chen Mao's connections in the military will not make such a weak impression.
Jiang Yi nodded and smiled.
"Brother Shun Qing, don't be anxious. This matter was first investigated by Wang Ji and reported to the court secretly. At that time, Sanyang was in charge of politics, so Luo Tong was escorted back to the capital to await trial, and Wang Ji was ordered to investigate in detail and then respond."
"After Luo Tong was escorted back to the capital, he was imprisoned in Dali Temple. In order to save himself, he made inquiries and found out that his father and Wang Ji had a close relationship, so he went to the Dingxi Marquis Mansion."
"Previously, when my father went on an expedition against Adai Khan, Luo Tong had served in the army as a censor, and he had some friendship with the Dingxi Marquis Mansion. My father thought that he was quite talented, so he reluctantly made it difficult for him in front of Wang Ji. Intercede for him.”
"Therefore, when Wang Ji finally reported to the court, he only mentioned his crime of embezzling prostitutes and concealed the matter of reselling weapons. In the end, Luo Tong was demoted to the gate official, but he saved his life and career."
"Later, after the Civil War, there was a shortage of people in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so Luo Tong was promoted to the rank of Wailang, a member of the Ministry of War, and went to Juyongguan to guard. After the War of Oala, he was promoted to the left deputy censor of the capital due to his merit."
"These letters are the correspondence between him and my father at that time, as well as the favors that Wang Ji conveniently sold to my father. They are also evidence that Luo Tong resold weapons back then."
Chen Mao nodded thoughtfully, flipping through the letters, confessions and other evidence in the box, and finally had a smile on his face.
Selling weapons is a serious crime. Judging from these confessions, Luo Tong resold a batch of weapons to civilian bandits, including even more important weapons such as fire guns.
If these crimes were made public, it would be enough for him to go back to his hometown and end his career.
Of course, the Dingxihou Mansion will also be implicated in some ways, but the old Dingxihou himself was not involved in the arms reselling case, but just changed things in the middle.
For a crime of this level, for a hereditary prince's mansion, it is just a fine.
What's more, Lao Dingxihou has passed away, and the deceased is the most important. Maybe in the end, the merits and demerits will be equalized, and there will not even be a painless punishment such as a fine.
If this matter were to be revealed, besides Luo Tong, the person who would be most affected would be Wang Ji, the official in charge of the case at the time. This behavior can be called malpractice for personal gain.
But now, even without this crime, Wang Ji can't protect himself, so naturally he has no worries.
Thinking of this, the emperor's capture of Wang Ji gave them a bargaining chip to control Luo Tong.
Seeing that Chen Mao's face finally looked better, Zhang Min also smiled and said.
"Brother Shunqing, don't worry about it. Luo Tong is just a chess piece. It's just because Yang Shan, Xu Bin, Xiao Weizhen and other adults are not in the capital now, and the civil servants need him to run, so he was given to him. A bit of face-saving, but in reality, they are just pawns, and our mansions are the real ones!"
Putting away the letter in his hand and putting it back into the box, Chen Mao only relaxed his brows for a moment, then he couldn't help but sigh and said.
"Having said that, in the end we still have too few people on the civil servant side. Ordinarily, we have Jingnan Xunguizhong, the British Duke's Palace and I, etc., to take root in the army, Chengguo Duke's Palace and several others Home, make good friends with civil servants.”
"If we want to win over civil servants, it would be best if Duke Cheng Guo can come forward. But now, that boy Zhu Yi, listening to his father-in-law, the old fox, insists on leaning towards the new emperor. After all the trouble, he is still not I didn’t get my title back!”
Zhang Xi also sighed, with a complicated look on his face, and said.
"Brother Shunqing is right. We are all in the same spirit, but who would have thought that Zhu Yi, with such a stubborn character, would not be close to us uncles, but instead listened to his father-in-law. Now a escort general I sent him away, and just like that, he still insisted on moving forward..."
The two people sighed here, but Jiang Yi on the side suddenly remembered something and said.
"When I mentioned Zhu Yi, I thought of something that might be of use to me."
Zhang Xian asked: "What's the matter?"
Jiang Yidao: "To be fair to the second master, the boy in my family is almost old. Recently, my wife is making arrangements to propose marriage to him. The second master knows that in our mansions, we pay attention to the right families, so the wife first inquired about those houses. Among them is the young daughter who first became the Duke of the country."
"I also accidentally heard my wife mention that during these days, Zhu Yi's daughter-in-law was summoned several times by the man from Jingyang Palace. Two of them, she brought her sister-in-law with her, so I speculate that it's not... "
He hasn't finished speaking, but when it comes to what's happening in the capital, there's nothing he doesn't understand.
Zhang Xi leaned forward and said, "You mean, the Zhu family wants to send someone to the palace? But this...is not quite in line with the rules?"
So far, although the Ming Dynasty has not explicitly banned the daughters of nobles from entering the palace, in fact, since the last concubine selection for Taizong's sons in the ninth year of Yongle, no children of noble nobles in the Ming Dynasty have been related by marriage to the royal family.
The choice of concubines for the harem from the families of middle and low-ranking officials and common people has become an unspoken rule in the court.
So even though he knew that the palace was recruiting talent recently, Zhang Xi didn't think about it that way.
Instead, Chen Mao sneered and said calmly.
"The draft is nothing more than the preliminary selection of the Ministry of Rites, the second selection of the eunuchs, and the final selection of the Queen Mother. Among them, the preliminary selection of the Ministry of Rites is the most stringent. Family background, physical appearance, and conduct must be verified. Most of the women were eliminated in the preliminary selection. In previous years, The women from each residence were blocked in the primary election, so naturally they were not allowed to enter the second round and the final round."
"But this time, don't forget that the person who presided over the primary election is Hu Hu. That old guy is Zhu Yi's father-in-law. It's not a matter of words to loosen his grip."
Jiang Yi was also a little unsure and hesitated.
"This is just my guess. The draft has always been handled by the Ministry of Etiquette. After the preliminary selection, the list will be sent directly to the Queen Mother and the Empress in the Harem. No one knows who will be selected until the final list comes out."
"Although the truth is this, Hu Hui has always been cautious in his actions. I am not sure whether he will do something that will lead to impeachment."
Hearing this, Chen Mao smiled hoarsely.
"Impeachment? That old guy doesn't care about impeachment! Nine times out of ten, this thing is probably true."
Compared with Jiang Yi, Chen Mao had a lot of dealings with the ministers in the court, especially those like Hu Hui who had been in power for many years. Chen Mao thought that he still had some discernment.
Not to mention whether the current Chengguo Duke's mansion can be regarded as a noble house without a title. Even if it is, that old fox Hu Hui can come up with a lot of reasons.
After all, until now, there has been no official edict from the imperial court prohibiting noble families from participating in the election. The ancestral teachings of the Emperor Ming Dynasty only stated that women from good families should not be accepted by ministers.
The scope of the former is too broad, while the latter mainly refers to women who donate privately without going through formal channels.
A draft like this that has gone through the clear path and gone through layers of selection can no longer be regarded as a minister's selection.
Therefore, even if it is impeachment, it will be a turmoil. With Hu Hui's status, he will be criticized at most, but he has been criticized so many times over the years that he still cares about this.
Therefore, Zhang Min's expression was a little complicated and he said: "So, that boy Zhu Yi is determined to cling to the new emperor. Unfortunately, his father fought all his life and died to protect the emperor from retreating. But when it came to him, he decided to join someone else so quickly."
Chen Mao shook his head and said: "Since Duke Xiancheng died in the battle, Zhu Yi has worked really hard to keep the lintel. It's a pity that we were a step late and let that old guy Li Xian take the lead. If Zhu Yi really put his After my sister is sent to the palace, I'm afraid she will be completely tied to the same boat as the one in the palace."
Jiang Yi also frowned and said: "Yes, more importantly, with such a backer, I'm afraid it will be even harder to win over the old people from Prince Yan's house who were originally swaying."
The three of them looked at each other and said, Zhang Xi.
"In this case, there is no need to try our best to stop this matter. In fact, the group of civil servants who should be opposed the most should be the group of civil servants. Brother Jiang, I'm afraid it's our turn to take action this time."
Jiang Yi nodded and said: "Second Master, don't worry. I will arrange for someone to tell the news to the censors when we get back. They are always the most interested in this kind of thing."
At this time, Chen Mao suddenly interrupted and said.
"Not only must the news be revealed to the censors, but also some rumors must be created. They say that the young prince of the Duke's Mansion intends to exchange his sister for a title. It is said that the emperor covets beauty and rewards the court titles arbitrarily. The rumor spreads more and more The more outrageous, the better, so you won’t be able to hide it even if you want to.”
Zhang Xian put his hands on his hands and laughed, saying: "Brother Shunqing, this is a good move. It can not only make this matter a fuss, but also pave the way for the knock on the que."
When it came to knocking the que, Jiang Yi hesitated a little, then spoke after a moment.
"Second Master, are we really not going to participate at all in this knocking ceremony and let Luo Tong handle it? Will this..."
Zhang Min frowned and said with some displeasure.
"How can we say that we are not involved at all? Civil servants are responsible for things like knocking. Most of our relatives' families are involved in the military. If we get involved, we will inevitably be discussed by the outside world and have evil intentions. If we don’t participate, we will help Luo Tong.”
"What's more, it's not like we have no contribution at all. This time, didn't the various mansions, various mansions, and the people arranged by the Shangsheng Empress Dowager in the Metropolitan Procuratorate be handed over to Luo Tong?"
Jiang Yi still felt a little uneasy and said: "Having said that, I still feel that the risk of knocking on the que is a bit high. Do I really want to do this? What if it doesn't work..."
Zhang Min sneered and said lightly.
"Do you think Luo Tong did this really for us? Don't you think about why he encouraged the leader? If Knock Que is really successful, he, the left deputy censor, will have a lot of benefits."
"Besides, aren't there just a few censors? Our foundation is in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion. Even if those censors join in, we can just look for opportunities to insert more in the future. It doesn't hurt."
Chen Mao also looked a little unhappy and said.
"Brother Jiang, why do you keep speaking for this Luo Tong? Although we have the handle on him now, we still need to judge how trustworthy he is. In my opinion, this knock on the que is a litmus test. He wants to I really have no ulterior motives, and I will definitely do my best this time. If it is really a trap, even if a few censors are caught in it, it won’t hurt our foundation."
Seeing that both of them had this attitude, Jiang Yi nodded hesitantly, but for some reason, he always felt a little uneasy in his heart...
