When Zhao Junchen returned to the Zhao Mansion from the Hubu Yamen, it was already around midnight, and all of Zhao Junchen's friends in the court had been waiting in the Zhao Mansion for a long time according to Zhao Junchen's instructions.
Therefore, after returning home, Zhao Junchen did not delay. After changing his clothes, he went to the living room to meet his friends.
In today's morning meeting, after all, Zhao Junchen's group had the upper hand and successfully pulled out the nails on the ground and eliminated worries. Therefore, it was different from the tense and heated atmosphere when Huang Yourong's party gathered for secret talks. Zuo Lanshan, Zhan Shanchang, etc. Although the person knew that this matter was just the beginning, his expression was still relatively relaxed.
After the meeting, all politeness and flattery were put aside. When Zhao Junchen sat down at the main seat in the living room, all the "Zhao Party" officials fell silent and looked at Zhao Junchen eagerly, waiting for Zhao Junchen's next order. .
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"Our current confrontation with Mr. Huang Ge is not the ultimate goal, but a means to expand the power in our hands. Although it is just the beginning, we must understand the propriety. We must not continue to fight Huang Ge endlessly. Ge Lao keeps fighting, otherwise it will only benefit others. What I mean is that next, we must beat Huang Ge Lao in pain and scare him to make him retreat..."
After some polite remarks, the topic finally came to the subject. Zhao Junchen took a sip of tea and spoke slowly to everyone.
Seeing that Zhao Junchen looked calm, as if he was sure of victory, Zuo Lanshan, Zhan Shanchang and others became more and more relaxed.
"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. As the saying goes, 'It is better to cut off one of the fingers than to hurt them.' Although we have the upper hand now, we should not attack blindly. We must find one or two main targets." Zuo Lan After Shan heard what Zhao Junchen said, he couldn't help but nodded in agreement.
Gu Quan asked, "Master Zhao, what do you think we should do next?"
Although Zhao Junchen already had an idea in his mind, he did not intend to say it out now. He just chuckled and said: "I have no experience in party struggle. Although I once defeated Wen Guanliang, it was just a coincidence. However, you have rich experience in this area." , so I want to hear your opinions.”
Indeed, most of Zhao Junchen's cronies were Wen Guanliang's disciples in the past. The factional conflicts in the imperial court at that time were much more intense than they are now. The four cabinet elders also refused to give in to each other, so compared to Zhao Junchen, these people The experience of partisan fighting also needs to be richer.
After hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Zuo Lanshan took the lead and said: "In my opinion, the first thing we need to do is to completely determine Tang Zheng's crime. Although we have pulled out this nail now, But if you just relax and don't convict him, you might insert it back in at some point, and you'll regret it later. So the nail must not only be pulled out, but also smashed so that it can no longer be used. That’s how you can feel at ease.”
Zhao Junchen nodded with a smile and said: "This is what the question is supposed to mean. Now the Ministry of Industry is our people. If the Third Law Division wants to collect personal and material evidence, they can't bypass us, so what should we do next?" , you know it by heart, and you don’t need me to give special instructions."
After hearing Zhao Junchen's statement, both Zuo Lanshan and Chen Dongxiang nodded repeatedly, their eyes full of eagerness.
Although they have worked with Tang Zheng for many years, now they want to completely destroy Tang Zheng. After all, without Tang Zheng, it is much more convenient for them to work in the Ministry of Industry without the constraints of others, and this time they will His crimes over the years have been passed on to Tang Zheng. If these crimes are finally confirmed, their Ministry of Industry's butt will be considered clean.
As the minister of the Ministry of Justice, Li Lide thought more carefully, but he mused: "Now we have you, your lord, to plan the strategy. We have made sufficient preparations early and have taken the lead. With the help of Lord Wei from the West Factory, we have collected Huang Yourong's information." He and his cronies have a lot of evidence of crimes. No matter who we want to impeach next, we can do it, but the specific target selection must be carefully selected."
Gu Quanze said: "To talk about Huang Yourong's main cronies in the imperial court, they are none other than Young Master Zhang Cheng, Wenyuan Pavilion Scholar Huo Zhengyuan, Minister of Rites Lin Wei, Right Minister of the Ministry of Punishment Yan Pengfei and others. Since you said you want to beat the pain. If we are afraid of Huang Yourong, our next target will be chosen among these people."
The audience expressed their opinions one after another. Although Zhao Junchen had other ideas, he did not refute. He wanted to try their method for the time being, so he smiled and nodded and said, "That makes sense, but even if Huang Yourong wants to The beating hurts, but it cannot lead to a life-and-death situation. Keeping Huang Yourong around now is still useful, but it cannot completely defeat him. However, we must grasp the right balance."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Gu Quan couldn't help but be startled. After thinking for a moment, he said: "In this case, Lin Wei, the Minister of Rites, should not move for the time being. This person has a brother-in-law relationship with Huang Yourong. If he is punished, Then there will be no room for maneuver between us and Huang Yourong. In the same way, Young Master Zhang Cheng cannot be easily touched. He is Huang Yourong's staunch ally and has done a lot for Huang Yourong over the years. If we touch him, Huang Yourong will definitely fight with us. Completely on board.”
"Oh?" Zhao Junchen asked: "So, our next target is either Huo Zhengyuan, the great scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, or Yan Pengfei, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment? I am not familiar with these two people. What kind of people are they?"
Li Lide, as the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment, wanted to know Yan Pengfei better, and said: "Although Yan Pengfei is only in his early forties, his qualifications in the Ministry of Punishment are deeper than those of lower officials, and he relies on his authority in the court. Huang Yourong's support is quite arrogant in the yamen of the Ministry of Punishment, and the current Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, Mr. Feng Pi, is old and already somewhat unable to do what he wants. Therefore, in the past two years, it is not an exaggeration to say that Yan Pengfei is in charge of the Ministry of Punishment. I have to give him three points."
Zhao Junchen knew Li Lide's ability well. Hearing what he said, Zhao Junchen was slightly startled and said in surprise: "Oh? Even you can't compete with him?"
A trace of embarrassment flashed across Li Lide's face and he said: "Sir, you also know that we officials in the capital are not like local officials. We are always restraining each other. The level of power depends not only on the official position, but also on how many people are supporting us below. The official entered the Criminal Department later than he did, and his foundation is inevitably shallower. Therefore, the doctors, Yuanwailang, and principals below are more obedient to him, and Mr. Feng Po also trusts him more. , I’m not afraid of him, but I’m not willing to provoke him easily unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Zhao Junchen nodded clearly. Although the Ministry of Punishment is in charge of legal prisons, there are factory guards suppressing it. Secondly, there are Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate around to share power. Its status among the six ministries may not be the same. Even worse than the Ministry of Rites, it was an inconspicuous and unpopular yamen. Zhao Junchen had never paid much attention to it, but these things were not clear until today.
"Speaking of which... when you helped me rebuild the West Factory, I told you that I would keep you as the Minister of Justice. I always keep my word. Now that I hear you say this, it may be an opportunity to fulfill my promise. ." Zhao Junchen said slowly while hesitating.
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Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Li Lide was naturally ecstatic. He was about to say something, but Zhao Junchen changed the subject and asked everyone: "What kind of person is Huo Zhengyuan, the great scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion? This person seems to be He rarely speaks in court, and although he has a distinguished status, I don't have a deep impression of him."
Although Zhao Junchen was not deeply impressed, when he heard Zhao Junchen mention Huo Zhengyuan, Zuo Lanshan, Zhan Shanchang, Tong Huan, Gu Quan and other disciples and cronies of Wen Guanliang, their expressions froze subconsciously.
Zhan Shanchang said in a deep voice: "Sir, although Huo Zhengyuan is quite low-key in the court, he is really difficult to deal with. He is the chief think tank of Huang Yourong's faction. When we were still under Wen Guanliang's sect, we fought with Huang Yourong, which was quite difficult. I suffered a lot because of this Huo Zhengyuan."
Tong Huan, who had always been the talkative one, couldn't help but interject: "It's true. Although Huang Yourong is the elder of the pavilion, sometimes the subordinates will feel that this Huo Zhengyuan is more difficult to deal with than Huang Yourong. Back then, the officials After I became the general affairs envoy, I wanted to take control of the general affairs envoy, but was plotted by Huo Zhengyuan and was ignored by the people below."
On the other side, Wei Huai, who had been silent all this time, actually followed up and said, "I am collecting criminal evidence against Huang Yourong and his cronies for my lord. It is true that Huo Zhengyuan has the least clues. It is really difficult to start with him."
"Oh? There is such a person under Mr. Huang Ge's sect?" Zhao Junchen was very interested and asked: "However, if he is really more difficult to deal with than Mr. Huang Ge, then the one who serves as Mr. Huang now is He, not Huang Yourong, this Huo Zhengyuan, must he have some shortcomings?"
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, everyone was stunned, obviously no one had thought about this aspect.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhao Junchen recalled his impression of Huo Zhengyuan. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Oh? Can't you guys figure it out? But I have a rough guess."
Unexpectedly, even though Zhao Junchen didn't understand Huo Zhengyuan, he could actually understand Huo Zhengyuan's shortcomings. Everyone was surprised and asked Zhao Junchen for advice.
Zhao Junchen said leisurely: "In the temple, if you want to succeed, you must be smart, but being too smart is not beautiful. People who are too smart think about too many things and understand the gains and losses too well, so they always worry about gains and losses. , he has lost his fierceness and determination, and stands out from the crowd, which makes people jealous. Listen to you, this Huo Zhengyuan is a smart man, but in my opinion, his shortcoming is that he is too smart. "
Seeing that everyone was still a little confused, Zhao Junchen continued: "You said that Huo Zhengyuan is Huang Yourong's chief adviser, but in the court, I rarely see him speak out. Even though it is obvious that we are going to deal with Huang Yourong today, This Huo Zhengyuan also said nothing, just huddled back, letting others charge into the battle, but he just hid behind and made plans, peeking out from behind, it can be seen that what kind of person this Huo Zhengyuan is, but it can also be roughly guessed."
When Zuo Lanshan heard what Zhao Junchen said, he felt it was reasonable and asked, "Master Zhao, are you saying that although this Huo Zhengyuan is smart, he has also lost his decision and is too precious about his life?"
"That's the truth." Zhao Junchen nodded and said, "But I don't know much about him either. I'm just guessing now. But since we have already fought Huang Yourong, we might as well give him a try. Even if it doesn't work, we can still know the depth. Tomorrow In the morning, let's attack him and Yan Pengfei, the right minister of the Ministry of Justice."
Although Zhao Junchen's words were casual, his attitude was determined. After all the Zhao party officials looked at each other for a few times, they all agreed.
Although none of them could guess Zhao Junchen's true intentions, they could only follow Zhao Junchen's instructions now.
In this way, Zhao Junchen's group also decided on the countermeasures for going to court the next morning.
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ps: Something happened in the unit today, so there is only one update, but there will be three updates tomorrow. 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.)
