The next day, as always, after half the Yin hour, Zhao Junchen arrived outside the Meridian Gate in a sedan chair. There, the prince's party and the chief minister Zhou Shangjing had been waiting for a long time. As for the other senior ministers, they were still waiting for the bell. Appeared only after the sound was heard. */.//*
However, what is different from the past is that when Zhao Junchen got off the sedan, his power and popularity were much greater than in the previous days.
In fact, since returning to Beijing, Zhao Junchen has changed from his previous withdrawn and domineering attitude. He greets the officials in the DPRK and the Central Government with a smile and makes friends willingly. Anyone can see his intention to make friends. Through the three-province Qiuwei fraud case, Zhao Junchen also demonstrated his ability to protect his cronies and his strong influence in front of Emperor Deqing.
Faced with such a Zhao Junchen, many court officials who were interested in finding a backer, or who were not taken seriously by the factions, were naturally moved.
However, at that time, the outcome of the bet between Zhao Junchen and Prince Zhu Heyu was uncertain. If Zhao Junchen finally lost the bet and was guilty of deceiving the emperor, his future would be ruined, let alone protecting his friends and forming his own faction. ?
Therefore, although many court officials wanted to move closer to Zhao Junchen, due to the bet, most of them did not take action and were just waiting and considering.
But with the end of the soap supply auction at the Ministry of Household Affairs, everyone knew that Zhao Junchen must have won the bet!
At this time, if you don't express your attitude, then when?
In fact, just as the household auction ended yesterday, many court officials had already sent invitations to Zhao Junchen's house or visited him in person. For a while, the front door of Zhao Junchen's house was bustling with traffic and noisy.
Today's morning court, with the appearance of Zhao Junchen, became even more lively. Many courtiers had been waiting for a long time. After Zhao Junchen got off the sedan, they all came closer to Zhao Junchen. There were no less than twenty or thirty people in the crowd, shoulder to shoulder. They all greeted Zhao Junchen, said hello, showed their goodwill, and so on.
Looking at the officials in front of him, although the official positions are not very powerful, if he can choose a few to be his disciples, it is always a good start for Zhao Junchen, and it can also increase Zhao Junchen's prestige and status in the hearts of the officials in the court. , so Zhao Junchen also returned the courtesy one by one, acting quite politely.
"Mr. Zhao, my superior sent someone to deliver a famous post to your mansion yesterday. I wonder if Mr. Zhao has seen it?"
"Sir Zhao, I intend to hold a banquet at Linyuan Pavilion today. I wonder if Mr. Zhao would like to have a dinner party with me?"
"Mr. Zhao is well, I am here to wish you the best of luck in your promotion to the position of minister!"
In the midst of the commotion, Zhao Junchen pressed his hands, and all the officials became quiet and looked at Zhao Junchen expectantly.
Zhao Junchen smiled and said: "If I am really promoted to the position of Minister today, I will hold a banquet to reward everyone for your support for me these days. Well, it will be at Tianhai Tower. What do you think of this afternoon at Unity Time? ? I won’t post any more. Today, at Youshi, any colleague who can honor me and attend the banquet is my friend, Zhao Junchen.”
After hearing what Zhao Junchen said, many officials agreed one after another.
Suddenly, someone just heard a soft hum: "Shilang Zhao is very confident. Does Zhao Shilang really think that he has won the bet?"
Zhao Junchen turned around and saw Bao Wenjie, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, standing not far away, looking at Zhao Junchen and others coldly.
Seeing that it was Bao Wenjie who was speaking, the courtiers gathered around Zhao Junchen subconsciously kept silent.
Bao Wenjie was a third-rank official, held real power, and was a close confidant of the prince. Although these people wanted to seek refuge with Zhao Junchen, the matter was still undecided and it was not worth it to offend Bao Wenjie for nothing.
Zhao Junchen smiled slightly and held up his hands to Bao Wenjie. Just as he was about to say something, he heard someone rushing to say: "Oh? Now His Majesty has decreed that the silver earned from the operation of pancakes in the inner treasury will be distributed to the Ministry of Household Affairs for 20 taels every year. Ten thousand taels, things have come to this, Mr. Zhao has already made a profit of 200,000 taels for the household department in one month, is it possible that His Highness the Crown Prince intends to break the contract and regret it?"
While they were talking, Zhan Shanchang and Tong Huan appeared side by side. The person who had just spoken was Zhan Shanchang who had already disliked Bao Wenjie.
If it weren't for Bao Wenjie's report on the Qiuwei fraud case in the three provinces, Zhan Shanchang wouldn't have been in such a mess a few days ago. What's more, the two of them had already formed many conflicts over the years in their struggle for power in the Ministry of Rites.
When Bao Wenjie saw that it was Zhan Shanchang who was speaking, a flash of disdain flashed through his eyes, and he snorted: "How long can a villain be so rampant if he succeeds?"
As he spoke, Bao Wenjie turned to Zhao Junchen again and said, "Master Zhao, you may not win this bet. We'll see you in court."
While speaking, without waiting for Zhan Shanchang to refute, Bao Wenjie turned around and walked towards where the prince's party gathered, leaving Zhan Shanchang with an angry face.
But Zhao Junchen didn't say much, he just followed Bao Wenjie's direction and looked towards the prince's party.
Obviously, the prince's party now also knows about Zhao Junchen's use of pancakes to make money. They all have serious faces, but there is no look of despair, and they obviously have their own ways to deal with it.
Zhao Junchen was not worried about this. He deliberately exposed some flaws in this matter. Obviously the prince's party had noticed it, but Zhao Junchen didn't care. He showed these flaws to Emperor Deqing. The prince One party thought it had a plan, but in fact it was just used by Zhao Junchen.
As he glanced around, Zhao Junchen saw the chief assistant Zhou Shangjing again. As always, Zhou Shangjing was surrounded by a group of disciples and was looking at Zhao Junchen with scrutinizing eyes.
After the two made eye contact, both Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing nodded politely.
Zhao Junchen had no doubt that Zhou Shangjing must have known about Emperor Deqing's arrangements yesterday, but Zhou Shangjing had no influence at all on Emperor Deqing's actions. His expression was as indifferent as ever, making Zhao Junchen unable to guess the depth.
On the other side, because of Bao Wenjie's appearance, the court officials gathered around Zhao Junchen were all a little embarrassed. After seeing Zhan Shanchang and Tong Huan walking towards Zhao Junchen, they all left knowingly.
When only Zhan Shanchang and Tong Huan were left, Zhao Junchen led the two of them towards the Meridian Gate. As he walked, he ordered: "There will be a banquet tonight. You two will also come. Those who want to join my sect." , you two are responsible for screening."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Zhan Shanchang and Tong Huan both nodded.
Although Zhao Junchen wanted to recruit cronies, he did not want to recruit a group of spies from other factions.
In addition, although many officials wanted to take refuge in Zhao Junchen, the reason why they could not find a backer or were not reused in the factions in the past also had many problems of their own. Zhao Junchen did not want to accept them all without distinguishing the good from the bad.
At this moment, the bell on the Meridian Gate rang. As the Meridian Gate slowly opened, the three pavilion elders Wen Guanliang, Huang Yourong, and Shen Changmao stepped on the clock and got out of the sedan chair, and the morning dynasty began.
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ps: Tomorrow’s fifth update, I will replace the Chinese Valentine’s Day debts, and then start to break out, I finally have some free time. The days when I woke up early and got dark some time ago are really unbearable to look back on (#^_^#
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