Just as Emperor Deqing summoned Zhao Junchen for a private discussion, the core figures of Huang Yourong's faction had gathered in Huang Yourong's house, preparing to discuss with Huang Yourong how to retaliate against Zhao Junchen. Huang Yourong has served as the chief minister in the court for many years. His disciples and old officials are all over the world, and he has a solid foundation in the government and the public. Now in the Huang Mansion, although it is just a gathering of core figures, there are already young master Zhang Cheng and Wenyuan Pavilion scholar Huo Zhengyuan. , Lin Wei, the Minister of Rites, Yan Pengfei, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishments, and other seven or eight people were present, and it seemed that the momentum was huge.
Huang Yourong was different from the original Wen Guanliang. Wen Guanliang was most greedy for money. His power at the time was mainly concentrated in the Ministry of Industry, the Capital Transportation and Salt Envoy Department and other fat and deficient yamen that were prone to greed for money. However, Huang Yourong was even more greedy for power, so these of his The cronies in the DPRK and China are mostly high-ranking officials who hold real power and can express their opinions in court.
It can be said that it is definitely much more difficult for Zhao Junchen to deal with Huang Yourong than it was to deal with Wen Guanliang. Once there is hostility, the counterattack he will face will be much more intense.
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"Everyone, everyone has seen what happened in court this morning. Zhao Junchen's actions clearly do not take us seriously, and he has been plotting for a long time and is ambitious. If we don't take revenge, the center of this temple will There is no place for it anymore… Tell us what you think.”
Sitting on the main seat, Huang Yourong gritted his teeth and spoke slowly, obviously trying to control his anger.
Seeing Huang Yourong's appearance, everyone in the living room was secretly frightened.
Young Master Zhang Cheng, Wenyuan Pavilion Scholar Huo Zhengyuan, Minister of Rites Lin Wei and others were Huang Yourong's die-hard cronies, but they understood Huang Yourong's temperament best.
In this era, there is no concept of "split personality", but Huang Yourong may have been hypocritical for a long time, but there are obvious signs and trends of this kind. On weekdays, he always looks kind and friendly, greeting everyone with a smile, but once things get out of control, he always becomes furious and angry, which makes people scared to watch.
Just now, Huang Yourong had just returned home and had already thrown four or five cups in front of everyone before he finally relieved the anger in his heart.
However, in the past, the only person in the whole court who could make Huang Yourong lose his composure was Zhou Shangjing, but now there was another Zhao Junchen.
Young Master Zhang Cheng, Wenyuan Pavilion Scholar Huo Zhengyuan, and Minister of Rites Lin Wei had higher status in Huang Yourong's party. However, after hearing Huang Yourong's inquiry, none of them had the intention to speak. They all muttered and wondered what they were thinking.
Yan Pengfei, the right minister of the Ministry of Justice, saw the situation was a little cold. After hesitating for a while, he finally said cautiously: "Mr. Ge, although we let Zhao Junchen take advantage of us this morning, it was also because we were caught off guard. Mr. Ge, you Having been operating in the DPRK for many years, Zhao Junchen’s foundation, power and influence are nowhere close to his. If they dare to impeach our people, we will fight back. In the end, we will definitely win."
Huang Yourong snorted coldly. In his irritated mood, he looked at Yan Pengfei with an unkind look: "You say it sounds nice, but it's all nonsense! What Zhao Junchen did today has a very deep intention. It has cut off our biggest means of counterattack. Haven’t you noticed?! You’re so stupid!!”
Hearing what Huang Yourong said, Yan Pengfei was a little confused, apparently not understanding Zhao Junchen's true intention of impeaching Tang Zheng earlier.
Seeing that Yan Pengfei was so stupid, Huang Yourong snorted again, but he didn't bother to explain. He just became more and more unhappy with Yan Pengfei.
Lin Wei, the Minister of Rites, should be more patient and explained to Yan Pengfei softly: "Now Zhao Junchen's power is mainly concentrated in the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry. One of these two yamen is responsible for issuing money, and the other is responsible for spending money. They complement each other and watch out for each other. Now being managed by Zhao Junchen like an iron barrel, it is the foundation of Zhao Junchen. It can be said that as long as there are no accidents in these two yamen, no matter how we attack Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen will not be hurt, but Compared with Zhao Junchen, our power distribution is inevitably scattered, and we are easily attacked and impeached by Zhao Junchen. This is our current difficulty."
On the other side, Young Master Zhang Cheng also added in a cold voice: "Originally, Tang Zheng, the Minister of Works, was the nail we inserted into Zhao Junchen's territory. As long as this nail is there, we will have the means to fight back. I never thought that Zhao Junchen would suddenly be in trouble today and pull out this nail while we were unprepared, but we also lost our biggest means of counterattack."
After a pause, Zhang Cheng shook his head and continued: "And he pulled out the nail so suddenly, and refused to give in to Mr. Huang Ge in the court. It was Xiang Zhuang who was dancing the sword with Pei Gong in mind. What was his intention? It has been exposed for a long time, and I’m afraid it will be difficult to get along with us.”
Only then did Yan Pengfei understand the far-reaching impact of Zhao Junchen's impeachment of Tang Zheng this morning, and his expression changed. I also knew that I was short-sighted and couldn't understand the stakes, but I didn't dare to express my opinion easily anymore.
But Huang Yourong was unwilling to hear these things that he had already understood. He looked impatient and frowned: "What I want to know now is how we can retaliate against Zhao Junchen! Don't just analyze it. Have you thought of any solution?"
Lin Wei also frowned, but said with some helplessness: "Zhao Junchen is impeaching our people this time. According to the usual practice, we should also impeach his people, but Zhao Junchen has obviously planned it for a long time this time. I'm afraid he and his Those cronies have now hidden the evidence, and looking at the charges they impeached Tang Zheng in the morning, the people from the Ministry of Industry have passed all the blame on Tang Zheng. Now let's think about it Those who are impeaching Zhao Junchen are also in some trouble. Without evidence, they may not be able to do anything about it, but if you want to collect evidence, it will take at least three or four days to prepare."
Zhang Cheng also sighed and said: "Yes, if we want to effectively counterattack Zhao Junchen, we need at least three or four days of preparation time, but we are afraid of what Zhao Junchen will do in these three or four days. If we suffer any more losses, we will inevitably be tired of dealing with them. In any case, Zhao Junchen had planned this for a long time, but we were careless. After losing the opportunity, we became passive every step of the way."
Huang Yourong narrowed his eyes, with a dangerous light flashing in his eyes, and asked, "Is it possible...we have never paid attention to the weaknesses of Zhao Junchen and others before?"
Lin Wei shook his head and said: "I have paid attention to it, but firstly, Zhao Junchen's group has been cautious these days, and there are few handles. Secondly, since they have been planning for a long time, the handlers we were looking for before may have already been used by them." We already have countermeasures. Although we can give it a try, there is little hope of success. What's more, His Majesty may not be on our side."
"boom!"
The sudden sound of breaking porcelain shocked everyone. When they looked up, it was Huang Yourong who had dropped the cup again.
"Is it possible that we don't have any means of counterattack against Zhao Junchen!?"
Huang Yourong gritted his teeth and spoke word by word.
Thinking that after today's morning court, Emperor Deqing summoned Zhao Junchen alone again, but paid no attention to him. It was obvious who was close and who was distant, Huang Yourong couldn't help but feel even more angry.
As a young master, Zhang Cheng didn't worry too much when he saw Huang Yourong's anger. He just said truthfully: "At present, it seems that when we go to court tomorrow morning, we can only find some random charges to impeach Zhao Junchen, but that's it. It’s just a try, just to cause some trouble for Zhao Junchen and the others, and to let the officials know that we are not easy to bully, but if we want a truly effective counterattack, we can’t rush it.”
Seeing that Huang Yourong was getting angry again, Huo Zhengyuan, the Grand Scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion who had been silent, finally spoke.
"Actually, it's not difficult to really cause some trouble for Zhao Junchen."
Huo Zhengyuan didn't talk much on weekdays, but his vision and intelligence were the most convincing. Everyone was happy to hear him speak now. Even Huang Yourong calmed down the irritability in his heart a little, and then looked towards him expectantly. Huo Zhengyuan looked.
Although Huo Zhengyuan was attracting everyone's attention, he was slow and unhurried. After sorting out his thoughts, he said slowly: "Now that Zhao Junchen has become powerful, if you want to impeach him and his people, you naturally need solid evidence. But if we want to cause some trouble for Zhao Junchen, make him unable to deal with one thing and another, and delay us some buffer time, we only need some excuses. Moreover, if things go well, it is not impossible to even bring down Zhao Junchen in one fell swoop. .”
"What do you mean?" Huang Yourong asked.
Huo Zhengyuan was good at scheming and foresight, but he could only assist Huang Yourong, but he could not become a cabinet minister like Huang Yourong. He also had his own shortcomings. He liked to show off his wits, he always liked to hide half of what he said, and he would not tell the whole story until people questioned him. , which is one of his problems.
However, at this time, Huang Yourong did not blame him, but eagerly waited for Huo Zhengyuan's explanation.
Huo Zhengyuan smiled slightly and replied: "The Household Department is in charge of the world's money and food. It is the most prone to problems and the most eye-catching. Zhao Junchen is a well-known corrupt official. No matter how hard he manages the Household Department, it is like an iron bucket. It is generally airtight, but as long as we find some excuses to add fuel to the flames and arouse suspicion among officials and the world about the whereabouts of the Ministry of Household's money and food, then no matter how much His Majesty protects Zhao Junchen, he will still be unavoidable under the will of the public. The account department needs to be audited."
Hearing what Huo Zhengyuan said, everyone's eyes lit up.
Auditing accounts is indeed the easiest way to deal with Zhao Junchen. In their understanding, no matter how corrupt officials like Zhao Junchen falsify accounts, they may not be able to withstand strict investigation.
Seeing that everyone had understood, they were all looking at him with admiration and excitement. Huo Zhengyuan's expression flashed with contentment, but then he looked calm and calm, and he also spoke. More slowly.
"As for the excuse, it's easy to find. I just asked several local yamen to submit a statement saying that the money and food granted to them by the Ministry of Household Affairs during this period was seriously insufficient and its whereabouts were unknown. We also followed suit. What happened next? It's a matter of course... Checking the accounts department is a big deal. Once this matter breaks out, the officials will have no time to care about anything else in the morning in the next few days, and Zhao Junchen will inevitably divert his attention because of this, and even more If we have to argue about this, in the end, it would be best to be able to audit the accounts, but even if His Majesty tries his best to defend it, he still won't be able to audit the accounts in the end, but our buffer time will be there."
Following Huo Zhengyuan's idea, everyone nodded.
But after Huang Yourong was pleasantly surprised, he didn't know what he thought of and suddenly frowned. To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come (Subscribe to this site, reward, and your support are my biggest motivation.)
