Zhao Junchen is the Minister of Household Affairs and Zhan Shanchang is the Minister of Rites. It stands to reason that after the morning court, they should go to their respective yamen to work. //.//
However, Zhao Junchen did not care about these rules, and Zhan Shanchang did not care about these rules. Either intentionally or unintentionally, both of them ignored such rules.
When they arrived at the Zhao Mansion, Zhao Junchen led Zhan Shanchang to the main hall. After the guests and hosts were seated, seeing Zhan Shanchang's anxious look, Zhao Junchen waved his hand, and all the servants and maids of the Zhao Mansion retreated.
For a time, only Zhao Junchen, Zhan Shanchang, and Xu Qingyan were left in the main hall.
Zhan Shanchang glanced at Xu Qingyan, who was standing next to Zhao Junchen, and hesitated whether he should speak.
Seeing Zhan Shanchang's concerns, Zhao Junchen smiled and said: "Xu Qingyan is my long-term follower and has been with me since he was a child. There is nothing that I cannot let him know."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Xu Qingyan raised his head and snorted slightly, expressing his disdain for Zhan Shanchang's concerns.
On the other side, after Zhan Shan saw no one else, he knelt down in front of Zhao Junchen again and said repeatedly: "Thank you Mr. Zhao for saving me today. If Mr. Zhao hadn't helped me speak for you today, Your Majesty would have been in Bao Wenjie's house. Under the temptation, I am afraid that I will be taken to prison for trial. I will never forget your kindness, but I still ask you to save me. In this Qiuwei fraud case, I am really innocent. .”
Zhao Junchen wanted to help Zhan Shanchang up, but Zhan Shanchang's attitude was extremely determined. He just begged and refused to get up.
Zhao Junchen sighed: "Didn't I already say it? You and I are both ministers, how can you call yourself a subordinate? And you are kneeling like this now, how can you speak? If you have anything to do, sit down and talk, like this I can also make it clearer, Lord Zhan, don’t worry, no matter what happens, as long as I can do my best, I will not stand idly by."
After hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Zhan Shanchang finally stood up after hesitating for a moment, but he did not dare to sit down. He just stood next to Zhao Junchen with his body hanging slightly, as if he was waiting for scolding.
Seeing Zhan Shanchang's appearance, Zhao Junchen shook his head and stopped trying to persuade him. He just asked, "Tell me, what happened? Did fraud really occur in the Qiuwei rural examinations in Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan provinces? Is it related to anything?" Are you concerned?"
After Zhan Shanchang hesitated for a moment, he finally replied with a grimace: "Back to Mr. Zhao, there was indeed fraud in the Qiuwei rural examinations in Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan provinces, and it did have something to do with Xiaguan, but Xiaguan is really innocent. !”
Zhao Junchen tasted the tea in his hand, but he looked nonchalant and said casually: "Oh? What's going on? Tell me in detail."
Imperial examination fraud has always been the most hated by Emperor Deqing, so when Zhao Junchen learned that fraud did occur in Qiuwei of the three provinces, and it was indeed related to Zhan Shanchang, he began to think about how to get rid of the matter. After all, he is in a troubled time now, and it is better to have more troubles than less.
Noticing the change in Zhao Junchen's attitude, Zhan Shanchang looked even more panicked, and quickly explained: "Mr. Zhao, you don't know something. In fact, Qiu Wei of the three provinces has been targeted by Mr. Wen Ge for a long time. The subordinate turned out to be Wen Ge The old man, and this time he was in charge of the three provinces in Qiuwei. He also followed the instructions of Mr. Wen Ge and united with the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the academic administration of the three provinces to sell nearly half of the places for the imperial examinations in the three provinces and received a total of bribes. Five hundred and seventy thousand taels, but of these silvers, Xiaguan only kept 50,000 taels. The other 220,000 taels of silver were used for up and down management, and the remaining 300,000 taels were all handed over to Wen Wen. Mr. Ge, what I did was all done at the instigation of Mr. Wen Ge. I am innocent!"
Zhan Shanchang was obviously the person who presided over the fraud and also accepted bribes, but he claimed to be innocent. Zhao Junchen couldn't help but find it funny.
The Wen Ge Lao Zhan Shanchang mentioned was Wen Guanliang, the second assistant in the dynasty, and his position and power in the dynasty was second only to the first assistant Zhou Shangjing.
If there is anyone in the whole court who is more greedy for money than Zhao Junchen, then there is no doubt that it is Wen Guanliang.
It is said that Wen Guanliang's current wealth is no less than ten million.
Thinking like this, Zhao Junchen nodded thoughtfully and asked Zhan Shanchang: "In that case, the fraud case happened, why didn't you go to Mr. Wen Ge for help instead of finding me here? Wen Ge As an assistant minister in the cabinet, I am much more capable than I am."
After hearing Zhao Junchen's question, Zhan Shanchang showed hatred on his face and gritted his teeth and said: "This incident of Qiuwei in the three provinces, I thought it was done covertly, but I didn't expect that the candidates from the three provinces were so stubborn that they actually made the matter bigger. At the beginning, , Wen Guanliang also tried his best to save the situation, but when the prince's party learned about the matter, the old guy Wen Guanliang suddenly gave up and asked him about countermeasures. He actually said that the three provinces in Qiuwei The fraud was committed by the official alone, and he had no knowledge of it. He even persuaded the official to surrender to His Majesty and plead guilty! In doing so, he clearly wanted to sacrifice the official to save himself! The official asked himself, he was loyal to him in the past. I was in front of me and behind the horse, but I didn't expect to end up in such a situation. How can it not be chilling? Mr. Zhao, you have to make the decision for me."
Zhan Shanchang had just called Wen Guanliang "Mr. Wen Ge", but at this point, he was calling him by his first name.
Zhao Junchen frowned and asked: "Don't you have any evidence to prove that he was the mastermind of this incident? Then Wen Guanliang sacrificed himself so much for you, aren't you afraid that you will bite him back?"
Zhan Shanchang smiled bitterly and said: "Although this matter originated from his instruction from beginning to end, no one else knew about it except Xiaguan. In the past, Xiaguan was very loyal to him. What happened before and after , and I didn’t even dare to let others know, for fear of being implicated and affecting him, but I didn’t expect that he would be so cold-blooded, hey..."
Hearing what Zhan Shanchang said, Zhao Junchen nodded sympathetically, but completely gave up on helping him.
Because this matter is not only troublesome, but also likely to offend the elder Wen Guanliang. It is not worth it just for Zhan Shanchang, who is not very familiar with him.
If Wen Guanliang had clearly abandoned Zhan Shanchang, but Zhao Junchen rashly rescued Zhan Shanchang, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to Wen Guanliang? Wen Guanliang will definitely hate Zhao Junchen.
Although in Zhao Junchen's view, the reason why Wen Guanliang has the powerful position he is today is not because of how powerful he is, but simply because the chief minister Zhou Shangjing does not want to form a situation where his family is the dominant one in the court, thus causing Emperor Deqing to suspicion, so he deliberately tolerated Wen Guanliang.
But even so, Wen Guanliang's current influence in the court is still much higher than that of Zhao Junchen, so Zhao Junchen will naturally not offend him easily.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen said slowly: "Hey, Mr. Zhan is also pitiful, but if Mr. Wen Ge can't save Mr. Zhan, how can I save him? Mr. Wen is probably asking the wrong person."
As he spoke, Zhao Junchen picked up the tea cup again, with a clear intention to serve tea as a farewell to the guests.
Seeing Zhao Junchen like this, Zhan Shanchang knelt down again and said with a cry: "Xiaguan used to fight for Wen Guanliang. The other ministers in the cabinet have already been offended by Xiaguan, and the prince's party hates Xiaguan. He is a corrupt official. Mr. Zhao, you are the only one who can save the official now. You have the Holy Family and His Majesty can listen to what you say. You must be able to save the official. Mr. Zhao, at this time, you must Please give me a hand."
Although Zhan Shanchang cried pitifully, Zhao Junchen remained calm and made up his mind to stand aside.
Zhan Shan saw that Zhao Junchen was like this, so he quickly took out his trump card: "Wen Guanliang has already returned the 300,000 taels of silver to Xiaguan. Over the years, Xiaguan has also saved 200,000 taels of silver. There is a total of 200,000 taels of silver. Five hundred thousand taels of silver, as long as your Excellency is willing to give me a hand, I will immediately give this money to you..."
Zhao Junchen remained calm. Some things cannot be solved with money.
However, Zhan Shanchang had another option and continued: "Over the years, Xiaguan has been helping Wen Guanliang to take charge of the Ministry of Rites. Nearly half of the people in the Ministry of Rites were promoted by Xiaguan. If something happens to Xiaguan, these people may also lose their lives." It’s hard to guarantee that now we are advancing and retreating together with the lower official. If your Excellency can help the lower official, this half of the Ministry of Rites will only follow the official’s lead from now on..."
Zhao Junchen's expression changed, but he still didn't speak.
The temptation to be half of the Ministry of Rites is great, but it is still not worth it to be hostile to Wen Guanliang, the second assistant.
However, what Zhao Junchen didn't expect was that Zhan Shanchang could give him far more than that.
I saw Zhan Shanchang continue to say: "Also, Mr. Tong Huantong, the general affairs envoy of the General Affairs Envoy Department, is not only a classmate of Xiaguan, but I have a brother-in-law friendship with him and have a very deep friendship. He is also Wen Guanliang. I am also very disappointed with what Wen Guanliang has done to Xianguan these days. If your Excellency is willing to help Xianguan survive this calamity, Xianguan is willing to persuade Tong Huan for you to let him become your disciple together with Xianguan!"
Hearing what Zhan Shanchang said, Zhao Junchen slowly put down the tea cup in his hand.
The role of the General Affairs Department is much more important than that of the Ministry of Rites.
General Affairs Department, commonly known as Yintai. It was formerly called Chaci, but now it has become the central office of the imperial court that manages internal and external affairs, reports, reports, and refutations. It is responsible for cashiering the emperor's orders, communicating with subordinates, guarding official documents coming in and out of various departments, reporting opinions and complaints from the people from all over the world, and redressing grievances. Although there is no real power in matters such as prosecuting illegal acts, it is just a matter of circulating memorials, but it is extremely crucial.
Once this yamen is in hand, it will be of immeasurable help to Zhao Junchen.
Is it worth offending Wen Guanliang for the sake of the General Affairs Department and half of the Ministry of Rites?
Zhao Junchen couldn't help but hesitate.
Yes, at this time, Zhao Junchen was only considering his own interests. As for whether there was fraud in Qiuwei of the Three Provinces, and what would happen to those candidates who failed the exam due to fraud, Zhao Junchen didn't even think about it.
In Zhao Junchen's view, the so-called imperial examination cannot test the true ability of candidates at all. Candidates who pass the imperial examination and become officials are only familiar with eight-legged essays. So what if they win the examination? More than 50% of the candidates who passed the entrance examination will completely forget the words of the saints within five years of entering the officialdom and become one of the countless corrupt officials. The remaining 40% of the candidates who passed the entrance examination will gradually be dismissed from the officialdom for various reasons. disuse. Only less than half of the successful candidates can still uphold their duties and be honest officials, but most of them have elm-headed heads. Although they are honest, there are only a few who can do practical things.
In this case, in Zhao Junchen's view, it is not important at all whether there was fraud in the imperial examination or whether the candidates were wronged.
What matters is what kind of benefits you can get from it.
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ps: Second update! !