Night, Nangong.
Logically speaking, after nightfall, the palace is closed, and courtiers are not allowed to enter unless there is an urgent military or administrative matter. This is not only to ensure that the emperor is not disturbed, but also for safety reasons.
However, Nangong is not an imperial palace after all. Although it bears the name palace, it is actually outside the palace city. Therefore, its management is much looser.
Since the last spring hunting incident, most of the attendants in Nangong have been replaced. Not only has Nangong's management not become stricter, but the Jinyi guards on duty outside have become much more lazy.
Although Zhang Min made a temporary decision, with the help of Meng Jun, the commander of the bodyguards, he was successfully summoned without disturbing others.
When Zhu Qizhen received the report, he was also very surprised. Recently, he got a new beauty. She is as delicate as a willow, and she is charming and charming. She is different from the beautiful women he has accepted these days. It is the time for divine favor. .
He had just summoned Concubine Shen Yi to serve him today. Just when he was about to go to bed, Jiang An brought this news, which inevitably made him feel a little disappointed. Therefore, when he saw Zhang Shi, he was a little impatient and came up. He asked directly.
"Zhang Qing came here late at night. What's the urgent matter?"
The implication is that if there is nothing urgent, just wait for me...
However, Zhang Min's mood at the moment was extremely complicated. Although he was aware of the Emperor's dissatisfaction, he had no time to care about it.
After taking a look at the many maids serving around him, he spoke.
"I do have something important that I need to report to Your Majesty. It's just that the matter is very important, so I ask Your Majesty to step aside."
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Qizhen's brows suddenly frowned. When Jiang An came to report just now, he knew that Zhang Min came in secret this time.
Although, with Nangong's current state, this secret may not actually be a secret, but this in itself means that Zhang Xi does not want to be too public and does not want others to know about his visit this time.
This kind of sneaky behavior already made him feel strange. Now that Zhang Shi asked him to retreat, he naturally felt even more displeased.
But having said that, out of his trust in Zhang Min, Zhu Qizhen hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand and asked Jiang An to clear out all the irrelevant people.
Soon, there was no one else in the hall except Jiang An and Qi Muge. They retreated to the left and right, and those who retreated were miscellaneous people. Even if they retreated, it was impossible for there to be no one serving in the palace.
So Zhu Qizhen spoke.
"Zhang Qing, do you know that most of the people who just left were sent to me by the Holy Mother? There is no doubt that they are loyal and reliable. But outside the palace gate, there are countless informants in Nangong. If they serve in the palace , there may not be news leaked, but as long as they all go out, then such a big movement will definitely attract the attention of many parties."
Zhang Xi naturally knew this truth, and what he knew even more was that the Supreme Emperor also knew that he knew this truth. Therefore, when the Supreme Emperor said this, he was actually secretly expressing his dissatisfaction, which Zhang had agreed to in advance. Xian's request and what he said after repelling the person are the so-called emperor's mental tricks.
Sighing silently in his heart, Zhang Xi knelt down and said.
"I am deeply grateful for the kindness and special treatment you have received from Your Majesty. I hurriedly entered the palace today, and indeed I have something important to report to Your Majesty. The cause of this matter was that this afternoon, Xu Youzhen, a bachelor from Youchunfang, came to my residence and talked with me. All the events in Beijing in recent days..."
As he said this, Zhang Mi told Xu Youzhen's conversation with him today, as well as all the previous dealings between Xu Youzhen and him, as if they were pouring beans into a bamboo tube. He did not hide anything, including the fact that he and Zhu Yi wanted to regain control of the military government. of conspiracy.
It should be said that this was the first time that Zhang Min revealed everything about himself in front of the Supreme Emperor without reservation. Of course, it is not accurate to say that he had no reservation at all. At least, the two of them worked together to plot Ren Li's affairs. He didn't dare to say it.
However, even so, he still felt uneasy, because strictly speaking, his conspiracy with Zhu Yi was for personal gain. Although this was human nature, if he said it like this, it would arouse the emperor's anger. He was still a little unsure about his reaction, but at this point, he could only take a gamble.
Zhang Xi knew very well that what Xu Youzhen said to him today was to sow discord between him and Zhu Yi, so that Zhang Xi could rely more on Xu Youzhen as a think tank.
However, what he knew more clearly was that Xu Youzhen was right. Zhu Yi was a man of deep scheming and extremely experienced. More importantly, like himself, Zhu Yi's first priority was Duke Cheng. The government's own interests, and on this basis, is how to protect the interests of the British government.
This difference is not noticeable at ordinary times, but it becomes particularly obvious once it encounters a critical moment. From the restoration of the title, the re-establishment of the young army, to the calculation of Ren Li, the plan to take back the power of the military government, and then to Nowadays, those who benefit from the selection of honorary guards are the Chengguo Duke's Palace first. Although the British Duke's Palace also has benefits, it is far less than the Chengguo Duke's Palace.
Zhang Xi had already felt it before, but Xu Youzhen just pointed it out. However, it was difficult to change the situation once he noticed it, because fundamentally, Zhang Xi knew that this was due to his own lack of talent and ability. So he could only rely on Zhu Yi to help him come up with ideas.
Since these ideas are Zhu Yi's, he will definitely give priority to the interests of the Chengguo Palace. This cannot be changed no matter how good the relationship between the two families is.
So in fact, it is a good thing for the two houses to get married, but the marriage only represents the integration of resources of the two houses and they can rely on each other, but whether they can use this power depends on the abilities of the people in charge of the two houses.
And this is the reason for this situation. At the beginning of the union of the two governments, the British government was powerful. This is true. However, since there is a union, there is no distinction between superior and inferior, only priority.
This difference in priority, when one side does not have an absolutely overwhelming advantage over the other, does not depend on who is stronger or weaker, but on who has a more unique grasp of the court situation, between him and Zhu Yi.
Obviously, Zhang Shi is not as good as Zhu Yi at this point. Zhang Shi was not unaware of this before, but he ignored it intentionally or unintentionally. To put it bluntly, people are unwilling to admit their own incompetence. Yes, even if he has failed so many things before, as long as it is not pointed out to his face, it will be difficult for him to take the initiative to face this.
Perhaps this in itself is one of the reasons why he has always failed...
However, Xu Youzhen's words made it impossible for Zhang Shi to avoid this issue. He had to admit that he was not as good as Zhu Yi in terms of strategy and planning. He also had to admit that although the relationship between the two governments was still close, it could not become a country. The public government has gradually expanded, and there is a faint tendency to surpass the British public government.
Therefore, it is obviously unrealistic to continue to place hopes on Zhu Yi's help. He must have his own plan, and then he can use the power of the Chengguo Duke to achieve the British Duke's purpose, just like Zhu Yi What I did before was average.
Xu Youzhen's purpose is obvious. He just hopes that Zhang Shi can turn to him and rely on him. However, with Ren Li in the past and Zhu Yi in the back, Zhang Shi has already suffered enough from the consequences of taking advantage of him in the name of cooperation. He doesn't want to If he repeats the same mistake again, then Xu Youzhen will be different from the previous two. He is just a civil servant. He will not pose any threat to the British government, and he is not willing to follow the old path again.
But if we don’t follow the old path, where is the new way out?
Zhang Xi thought about it over and over, but still had no clue, until he started to try another way of thinking, that is, if the third brother was still here, what choice would he make in the face of such a situation?
He is not Zhang Fu, so he is not as thoughtful as Zhang Fu, and it is impossible to really know what Zhang Fu will do in the current situation.
However, he knew very well what choice Zhang Fu had always insisted on...
Your Majesty!
Ever since the Civil War, Zhang Fu has always stood firmly on the side of the Emperor. Within the palace, he tried his best to maintain a good relationship with the Holy Mother and the Queen Mother, assisting the Holy Mother in controlling the situation, and internally, wooing courtiers and inciting public opinion, constantly Try to welcome the Emperor back.
You know, at that time, the current Holy Mother had already ascended the throne, but Zhang Fu still insisted on this choice without wavering at all. In some matters, he was even willing to give up the interests of the British government, just to satisfy the Holy Mother and to welcome back the Supreme Emperor. , did not hesitate to take personal risks and went to Wala to rescue him. Although he never expressed his position clearly in court, he never concealed his loyalty to the Supreme Emperor.
Is it just because of his loyalty that he has done so much?
Zhang Fu used to think that, sometimes, he even felt that Zhang Fu was a little too careless about the British government's own interests, but now, he realized more and more that the third brother's choice was right.
He used to have some thoughts about comparing himself with Zhang Fu, but now, he suddenly found that the biggest gap between him and Zhang Fu lay in his structure and long-term vision.
Zhang Fu never cares about temporary gains and losses when planning things, he only considers how to achieve the ultimate goal, but he is different. His structure is too small, and he is often limited by the petty gains in front of him, which leads to wanting everything and everything. Can't get it.
Above the court, only when there is a king can there be ministers. Since the British Duke belongs to the faction of the Supreme Emperor, then the stronger the power of the Supreme Emperor, the more confident the British Duke will be in the court. The Supreme Emperor is weak and his will cannot go beyond Nangong. Then, the British Duke The government is like a rootless tree, and it is difficult to achieve anything.
It's a pity that he couldn't see this clearly before and was exploited repeatedly for selfish reasons. From this point of view, Zhang Fu is much smarter than him.
Since Zhang Min knows that he is not resourceful enough and does not have the ability to assess the situation and change according to the times, then the best choice is to find a path and never change it, go all the way to the end, and bet that his choice is correct.
In this process, no matter what kind of situation you encounter, don't waver, otherwise, it will be his situation, he wants this, he wants that, but in the end he has nothing.
Now, he has finally realized this, but he doesn't know if it's still too late...
The Supreme Emperor's expression was incomprehensible, which made Zhang Min feel guilty for a while. This was the first time for him to make such an attempt, so he had no idea what the outcome would be. He had even prepared it. The Supreme Emperor was furious and he bowed his head and confessed. Prepare.
However, to his surprise, the Supreme Emperor was not as furious as he thought, but instead asked him an unexpected question.
"What does Zhang Qing think of Xu Youzhen?"
Zhang Min was stunned for a moment and didn't know what the Emperor's intention was in asking about this matter. However, since he had made up his mind, he naturally told everything he knew and spoke truthfully.
"Returning to Your Majesty, I feel that this person has strategy, courage, but also ambition, and... Your Majesty forgives me, but I feel that he has too much ambition to be an official. In comparison, loyalty comes second. "
Hearing this, Zhu Qizhen said with a smile on his face.
"Speaking ill of people behind their backs is not Zhang Qing's usual style, isn't it?"
Although this question was asked with a smile, the meaning revealed in it was vaguely blaming, which made Zhang Min's heart beat again.
However, remembering the determination he had made when he came, he calmed down and spoke.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that I am not criticizing others behind their backs, but that I do view Xu Youzhen in this way. When your Majesty asks questions, I will answer truthfully without any falsehood or deception."
This answer sounded like a cliche and was a bit weak. Therefore, Zhang Xi was not sure whether he could satisfy the Emperor.
But, again, since we have decided to give priority to the Supreme Emperor, we cannot focus on the immediate gains and losses.
Just when he was ready for the Supreme Emperor to continue questioning him, he unexpectedly jumped to another topic and asked.
"Xu Youzhen said that we must do our best to protect the prince, no matter the cost or any means. What do you think of this?"
The atmosphere in the hall fell silent, and Zhang Shi's heart became nervous. This topic was very sensitive, and he knew very well that once something was said, it would be difficult to take it back.
However, at this point, he had no choice. Taking a deep breath, he spoke.
"I think he is right!"
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the orthodox ruler of the country. The eldest grandson of the late emperor and your majesty's eldest son should inherit the throne in the future."
"No matter who it is, even the emperor, if he wants to shake the throne of the East Palace, he is committing rebellion and usurpation. The British government has been favored by previous emperors, so naturally it cannot sit idly by and ignore it. No matter what the price is paid, I must protect the crown prince. position."
It should be said that compared to Xu Youzhen's words, what Zhang Xi said at this moment was more explicit. He directly pointed out that the biggest threat to shake the East Palace was the current Holy Emperor, in order to express his attitude.
However, what he didn't expect was that after saying these words, the Supreme Emperor pondered for a moment and did not make any affirmation or denial of his words, but asked.
"Then what if... I think the prince is unvirtuous and want to change to another prince?"
The tone was casual, as if he was talking about a trivial matter.
However, the moment he heard this sentence, a trace of cold sweat broke out on Zhang Xi's forehead. His expression changed for a moment, and he didn't know how to answer...
