Prince Zhu Heyu is now just over thirty years old. Although he has only been canonized as a prince for four or five years, due to the publicity of a group of elites, his reputation has already spread all over the world. Almost all the people believe that this prince is the prince. After succeeding to the throne, he will definitely become a wise king and master who is rare to see in a century, and by then, their life will be much easier. //.//
As a symbol of the prince's wisdom and prowess, although he is not yet the emperor, due to his virtuous style and charisma, he has already gathered many loyal assistants around him. These people, with the prince Zhu Heyu as the center, have been in the court in recent years. The ** advance and retreat together, and are called the "Prince Party" by the world.
The word "Prince. Party" is not a good name most of the time and has a derogatory connotation. However, during this period, because of Zhu Heyu's virtuous reputation, the upright people and officials in the whole dynasty used the term " He is proud of his status as “Prince, Party”.
It is said that after a certain pavilion elder returned to his hometown last year and returned to his hometown, he once described the situation above the temple like this - "The whole court is full of chaos, but the prince's party is the only one who can see it clearly. Although the demons are dancing around today, the prince's party members are still there. The prince is still here, and in ten years we will be able to put things right, and ZTE is in sight."
From this, we can see the high status of Crown Prince Zhu Heyu in the hearts of those honest and upright officials. It is not an exaggeration to say that these people are "looking forward to" the Crown Prince's succession.
………
On this day, in the main hall of the East Palace, the prince and his party members gathered together.
After these years of development, the number of the "Prince Party" has become larger and larger, and its influence has also grown. This can be seen just by looking at the Prince Party members gathered here today - the Third Master of the Prince and the Third Young Master of the Prince. Quite a few, not to mention the ministers of the East Palace and the prince's guests, in addition to Cheng Yuandao, the scholar of the Wenhua Palace, Li Chengru, the minister of the Ministry of household affairs, Lu Chunxiao, the imperial envoy of the right capital of the Supervisory Council, Bao Wenjie, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, etc., gathered at this time. In the main hall of the East Palace, there are no less than twenty or thirty people sitting on both sides. It can be said that there are many talents.
Since Zhu Heyu was canonized as the prince and established a government office, he often gathered with the prince's party members to discuss national affairs or exchange ideas on how to govern the country. They often made surprising remarks, and the prince Zhu Heyu Most of his virtuous names came from this.
In fact, such a gathering was a helpless move by Prince Zhu Heyu. Although the influence of the prince's party is growing, influence is not the same as strength. Nowadays, corrupt officials are in power in the temple, and Emperor Deqing also suppressed the prince Zhu Heyu intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore, although the prince's party has the right to speak and make suggestions in the court, they have very little real power in their hands. In this form of gathering, we can understand a little bit about their ambitions.
Today's gathering was mainly to discuss Emperor Deqing's southern tour.
On the first seat, Prince Zhu Heyu was explaining Emperor Deqing's thoughts to everyone.
"Last night, I begged to see my father and once again told him all the shortcomings of the Southern Tour. Unfortunately, my father couldn't listen, and instead scolded me. Alas, since my father proposed the southern tour a month ago, After being jointly dissuaded by us and others, they have yet to come to a conclusion. They just ask people to discuss the pros and cons of the Southern Patrol every day. I am afraid that the Southern Patrol is quite determined, and this is rubbing off against us."
Prince Zhu Heyu is tall and tall, with an upright face, sharp features, a steady voice, a noble temperament, and a resolute and decisive expression that never changes as if engraved on his face. During the conversation, there is an unconvincing aura. look.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to be discouraged." Cheng Yuandao, a scholar from Wenhua Palace, coughed and said, "Now that the Ministry of Revenue can't get the money, if His Majesty wants to tour the south, not to mention the repairs of the palace and the coming and going of ceremonial guards, but the staff alone The food and accommodation cost a lot of money, and His Majesty is unwilling to use money from the inner treasury. It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. According to my opinion, Your Majesty just had a temporary idea, and was just a little angry when we dismissed it. After a while, It’s over.”
Lu Chunxiao, the imperial envoy to the right capital of the Inspectorate, shook his head and sighed: "Yes, your Majesty's first two inspections were all carried out with great violence. Not to mention wasting money and wasting money, not to mention disturbing the people's power. The silver from the national treasury alone was used up in the two times combined. No less than 600,000 to 700,000 taels, but now the Ministry of Household Affairs can’t even get out 350,000 to 50,000 taels of silver.”
The prince's young master Guo Tang frowned and said: "What you two said is very true, but what I am worried about now is not the southern tour. It is that your majesty has been arguing every day because of the southern tour these days and can no longer care about anything else. , has delayed a lot of official affairs of the court, and now there is a backlog of government affairs. If things continue like this, there will be great chaos."
Bao Wenjie, the Minister of Rites, also had a worried look on his face and said: "Yes, the Sichuan chieftains caused trouble a few days ago. The document has been submitted to His Majesty for three days, and as of today, there is no approval. The situation in Sichuan is complicated and can be affected by anything. The whole body cannot be delayed."
Prince Zhu and Yu Youdao, although they seemed to be having a casual conversation, they were in an orderly manner. Cheng Yuandao, Lu Chunxiao, Guo Tang and others took turns speaking, one after another. Others neither interrupted nor competed for words, but listened carefully. , compared with the noisy morning morning every day, it was actually a judgment call.
After hearing the analysis of all the princes and party members, Crown Prince Zhu Heyu also looked serious and said in a deep voice: "What everyone said is reasonable. In order to avoid long-term changes, we must resolve this matter as soon as possible. Tomorrow morning , let’s speak to our father together again and explain the shortcomings of the southern tour, so that he can give up his mind about the southern tour.”
Having said this, Zhu Heyu seemed to remember something, and asked Li Chengru, the Minister of Hubu, "Li Shangshu, is it true that you can't even get out thirty to fifty thousand taels of silver from the Ministry of Hubu?"
With a wry smile on his face, Li Chengru stood up, bowed to Zhu Heyu and apologized, and said: "To be honest with His Highness, the remaining silver in the household department was only estimated by the lower official, but as for the specific amount, the lower official... the lower official does not know."
Li Chengru's words shocked the entire hall! !
Li Chengru was the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, in charge of the world's money and food, but he didn't know how much silver the Ministry of Hubu had available? !
Seeing the shocked and confused expressions on everyone's faces, Li Chengru's wry smile grew thicker and he explained: "You should have heard the rumors. Zhao Junchen, relying on His Majesty's favor, has long ignored me as the Minister. Now regarding the Ministry of Household affairs, I Not to mention interfering, I don’t even have the qualifications to intervene.”
Hearing what Li Chengru said, all the princes and party members were shocked, but they did not laugh at them. Instead, they only felt that they felt the same. Most of them were famous and powerless people, and they were more or less squeezed and suppressed by corrupt officials in the court. Li Chengru thought of it I couldn't help but shake my head and sigh.
At the same time, they finally understood why Li Chengru turned to Prince Zhu Heyu. It was well known throughout the court that Prince Zhu Heyu and Zhao Junchen did not get along.
Bao Wenjie, the Minister of Rites, as the prince, one of the few people with real power in the party, shrewd and capable, with much sharper vision than others, suddenly asked: "Li Shangshu, although Zhao Junchen is arrogant and domineering, but as early as two months ago, He was sent by His Majesty to inspect the locust plague in Lu'an and has not returned yet. In the past two months, Zhao Junchen has been away. Who will be in charge of the affairs of the Household Department? Could it be that Zhao Junchen has managed the Household Department so well that even if he has not returned, If he’s not here, you can’t intervene?”
Hearing Bao Wenjie's inquiry, Li Chengru looked strange. After hesitating for a long time, he explained: "As far as I know, in the past two months, all the affairs of the household department have been sent to Zhao Junchen's house for processing. Solve it, so I still can’t intervene.”
Bao Wenjie was stunned for a moment and asked: "Didn't Zhao Junchen go to Lu'an Mansion? Is there someone else in Zhao Junchen's mansion who could actually make the decision to handle household affairs on his behalf when Zhao Junchen left Beijing?"
After Li Chengru was silent for a moment, he nodded and said, "That's right."
Bao Wenjie frowned and asked: "I have never heard of such a person in Zhao Junchen's house. Do you know who he is?"
The strange look on Li Chengru's face became more and more obvious. After hesitating for a long time, he finally said: "I don't know who that person is. I just heard rumors that it seems... it seems to be an attendant named Fang Ru beside Zhao Junchen. concubine."
As Li Chengru finished speaking, all the prince's party members felt that they had heard wrongly and were stunned.
A concubine? !
A mere concubine could act as the household secretary when Zhao Junchen was away? Isn't this too childish?
"bump!!"
Suddenly, a loud noise suddenly woke up all the prince's party members.
Looking towards the source of the sound, he saw that Prince Zhu Heyu's face was livid at this time. It was he who had just slapped the table.
"Zhao Junchen..." Anyone can hear the hatred in Zhu Heyu's voice: "He actually handed over the important affairs of the country to a mere concubine and treated the affairs of the country as child's play. How can the world be safe if we don't get rid of such a national thief?"
Among the princes and their party, the prince's grand master Xiao Wenruan is the oldest and has the highest status, but he speaks the least every time they get together. Seeing Zhu Heyu so angry at this time, his old and calm face suddenly wrinkled. frowned.
"Prince, calm down." Xiao Wenruan is now over seventy years old. His voice is weak and intermittent, but it has an unquestionable flavor: "To be a king, you need to be happy and angry but not in color, you need to have a city, and you need to be better than those corrupt officials and treacherous ministers. We know better how to advance and retreat. Only in this way can you firmly grasp the overall situation. If you are so angry at a mere Zhao Junchen, how can you achieve great things and revive the Ming Dynasty in the future? Zhao Junchen is just a small person with short-sightedness and is already in danger. , even if you don't deal with him, he won't be arrogant for long. Compared to that old fox Zhou Shangjing, he is far less of a threat to you, so why should you be angry for him?"
Hearing Xiao Wenruan's reprimand, Zhu Heyu finally calmed down. Thinking of his gaffe just now, he looked ashamed. He stood up and bowed to Xiao Wenruan and said, "Thank you, Master, for your advice. Heyu knows that he was wrong." .”
Seeing Zhu Heyu acting like this, Xiao Wenruan's eyes flashed with satisfaction.
In his eyes, this prince acted resolutely and resolutely, and he hated others as much as he hated evil. The most rare thing was that he had no stubbornness, followed good deeds, and knew his mistakes and could correct them. This was really a rare trait of a saintly king.
If Zhu Heyu had any shortcomings, it was Emperor Deqing.
As the crown prince's grand master who has taught Zhu Heyu for more than ten years, Xiao Wenruan knows everything about Zhu Heyu very well. Zhu Heyu was not the inevitable candidate for the crown prince in the past. There were several people more qualified than him, but By chance, he died and wasted, and in the end it was the turn of Zhu Heyu, a prince who had never been paid attention to by Emperor Deqing.
Due to the lack of attention from Emperor Deqing since childhood, after Zhu Heyu became the prince, in order to prove himself in front of Emperor Deqing, he worked extremely hard and did his best in everything. But for some reason, Emperor Deqing faced such a The good prince actually became more and more indifferent.
Later, Zhao Junchen appeared. Emperor Deqing's extraordinary favor for Zhao Junchen, as well as the rumors that Zhao Junchen was the illegitimate son of Emperor Deqing, made Zhu Heyu unknowingly jealous of Zhao Junchen.
It is precisely because of this that Zhu Heyu, who has always been calm, always loses his composure more or less every time he talks about Zhao Junchen.
After sighing secretly in his heart, seeing that Zhu Heyu finally calmed down, Xiao Wenruan continued to say in his weak tone: "If I remember correctly, Zhao Junchen has been away from Beijing for two months and should come back. Even if he doesn’t plan to come back yet, with the current situation in the DPRK, His Majesty will recruit him back.”
When Zhu Heyu heard what Xiao Wenruan said, he was slightly stunned and asked, "What does the Grand Master mean?"
Xiao Wenruan said: "Zhao Junchen has no other abilities, but I admire his financial management skills, and this person has always responded to His Majesty's requests. I am afraid that after he comes back, he will move around and end up... I have collected enough money from His Majesty’s Southern Tour. In that case..."
Hearing this possibility, everyone in the prince's party was shocked.
Cheng Yuandao, a bachelor of Wenhua Palace, said: "It's unlikely, right? Your Majesty will need at least three to five million taels of silver for his southern tour. This is still a way to save money. How can he spare so much money? Even if he has it This ability, but if we oppose it with all our strength..."
Speaking of this, Cheng Yuandao seemed a little unsure, and added: "What's more, it's not just us who are against it. That old fox Zhou Shangjing has the same idea as us this time and is also against His Majesty's southern tour. Is it possible that everyone in the court is against it?" Your Majesty, will your Majesty still go against the will of the people?"
As soon as Cheng Yuandao finished speaking, he saw a guard from the Prince's East Palace rushing over to report: "Your Highness, news just came that Zhao Junchen has returned to Beijing!"
As soon as he said this, everyone was shocked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zhao Junchen now wants to become a mature and experienced politician. If anyone in this era can be a role model for him to learn from, it is Zhou Shangjing, the current chief minister of the cabinet.
Zhou Shangjing is not the only one in the court, and there are quite a few forces in the court that can compete with him. But when it comes to standing firm in the court, he is the most powerful among all the people in the court - since Emperor Deqing ascended the throne. Since then, Zhou Shangjing has been firmly seated in the position of Pavilion Elder for nearly thirty years, and no one can threaten him.
It is said that Zhou Shangjing has been in the officialdom for decades and has a dense network of party members and amazing power. If he wants to take sole power and become the dominant family in the court, no one can stop him. At least, the few people who are similar to him in the court now The countervailing forces will not be his opponents at all.
However, Zhou Shangjing was unwilling to do this, because in Zhou Shangjing's view, no emperor liked ministers who were overly powerful, and none of the most powerful ministers in history would end well.
Therefore, in the court, Zhou Shangjing has always had "equal" political opponents for thirty years. However, those political opponents have changed several times, but Zhou Shangjing still stands firm. Moreover, as long as it is something Zhou Shangjing wants to achieve, no matter how his political opponents try to stop it, Zhou Shangjing will always succeed in the end.
………
Zhou Shangjing's house is located in Xueshi Hutong, but to this day, this alley is more commonly known as "Thirty Thousand Liang Silver Alley".
Zhou Shangjing is very powerful, and countless people come to his house every day to ask him to do things. If these people do not bring enough 30,000 taels of silver, they are not even qualified to leave a name card. If they bring enough 30,000 taels, Money, then you can leave the name card to let Zhou Shangjing know that you have been here - but that's it. If you want to get things done, you have to spend more money.
The name "Thirty Thousand Liang Silver Alley" also comes from this.
At this time, Zhou Shangjing was practicing calligraphy in the study room of his mansion. Calligraphy practice was Zhou Shangjing's hobby and also Zhou Shangjing's habit. While practicing calligraphy, he felt calm and his thoughts were clear.
Therefore, when the people reported to him the news that Xue Gui, Yin of Shuntian Prefecture, asked for an audience, he did not say anything. It was not until after a stick of incense had passed that he finished writing the copybook and then said to the servant waiting outside the door: "Let him come in. "
Soon, Xue Gui, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, came to the study with a respectful expression, not daring to be dissatisfied at all with his previous wait.
Zhou Shangjing is now nearly seventy years old. He looks very old and can't even stand up straight. But Xue Gui knows very well how much power and shrewd mind the old man in front of him has.
"What's up?"
Zhou Shangjing asked, with an old face covered with wrinkles, but his eyes were extremely bright and energetic.
He knew that Xue Gui, as the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, would not come to see him normally, so something must have happened.
"Looking back to Lord Shoufu, I just got the news that Zhao Junchen has returned to Beijing."
After hearing Xue Gui's words, Zhou Shangjing couldn't help but frown.
Like Xiao Wenruan, he immediately thought of the impact of Zhao Junchen's return to Beijing-the possibility of Emperor Deqing's southern tour greatly increased.
He did not want Emperor Deqing to tour the south, but his starting point was different from that of the Prince's Party. He did not care about wasting the national treasury, wasting people and money, etc. It would not harm his own interests anyway. However, in Anhui and Zhejiang, in recent months, Since then, they have been attacked by pirates and Japanese pirates one after another, and the two provinces are in a mess. This situation is not what Zhou Shangjing wants Emperor Deqing to see. For some reason, Zhou Shangjing conceals these things and does not report them to Emperor Deqing.
If Emperor Deqing visited the south and saw the situation there, he would inevitably be punished for deceiving the emperor.
Everything was going smoothly, but Zhao Junchen actually returned to Beijing, and things became troublesome for Zhou Shangjing.
"That's right." After pondering for a moment, Zhou Shangjing suddenly remembered something and asked, "Have you found out the identity of Zhao Junchen's concubine Fang Ru?"
A few days ago, Zhou Shangjing planned to take advantage of Zhao Junchen's inspection of Lu'an Mansion to place some of his own people in the Household Department. However, all of them fell short. However, in just three to five days, the people he deployed were all because of various reasons. Due to various mistakes and charges, he was demoted and kicked out of the Ministry of Household Affairs. When Zhou Shangjing finally checked, he found that the person who blocked his plan was actually one of Zhao Junchen's concubines, Fang Ru!
"It's been found out, it's been found out!!"
Hearing Zhou Shangjing's question, Xue Gui quickly answered.
When Xue Gui carefully told Zhou Shangjing about Fang Ru's identity and some of the secrets he had found out, Zhou Shangjing couldn't help but smile, very happily.
"Find an opportunity to reveal these little secrets you found out to that Fang Ru... maybe it will be a good show..."
