…
…
Su Changzhen was the governor of Southern Zhili and a second-rank official in the court. Naturally, Zhao Junchen would not neglect him and went out to greet him personally.
After the meeting, Zhao Junchen welcomed Su Changzhen into the room to entertain him, without mentioning any polite words in his mouth.
However, while the two were being polite, Zhao Junchen was still thinking about Zhou Shangjing's affairs, and he was inevitably a little absent-minded, but Su Changzhen could see some clues.
So, Su Changzhen asked with a smile: "I see that Mr. Zhao is a little distracted, but what trouble has he encountered?"
Zhao Junchen was slightly startled, realizing that he had neglected Su Changzhen, but he smiled apologetically: "Thank you, Governor Su, for your concern. It's actually not a big deal. It's just that some time ago, I only focused on some benefits and didn't take things into consideration. It was detailed in the long run, but now that things have come to a head, I have discovered that not only have I failed to get any benefits, but I have to work for a certain old man in vain, I am inevitably a little frustrated, but I have neglected Governor Su, and I would like to ask Governor Su not to take offense."
According to Zhou Shangjing, in addition to Zhou Shangjing himself, Su Changzhen, the governor of Southern Zhili, and Jiang Bin, the minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, were also involved in concealing the Japanese pirate rebellion in Suzhou.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen was convinced that Su Changzhen would be able to understand the deep meaning of his words at this time.
However, to Zhao Junchen's surprise, Su Changzhen did not follow the topic in depth, but sighed: "Unsatisfactory things in life often happen. Although we are high officials in the court, we cannot always take advantage of them." In order to gain benefits, it is inevitable to do things for free under the pressure of the situation... However, Mr. Zhao, when you are doing things, if you need my help, just come to me. I will try my best and never shirk. .”
After hearing Su Changzhen's statement. Zhao Junchen was surprised and felt that Su Changzhen's attitude was a bit strange. It seems that he is not very dedicated to the affairs of Suzhou, and he looks like "success is meaningless and failure is okay".
However, Zhao Junchen did not continue to test before thinking clearly. He just smiled and said: "In that case, I would like to thank Governor Su for his kindness. If there is any trouble in the future, I hope Governor Su will not be upset."
"No, Mr. Zhao and I hit it off right away. We should support each other." After Su Changzhen said a few words with a smile, he suddenly changed the topic and asked: "Speaking of which, the Southern Patrol Fleet will stay in Xuzhou for a day. Half of the time, for those of us who are accompanying the ministers, if there is no call from His Majesty tomorrow, we will have a whole day of leisure, but I don’t know what arrangements you have for tomorrow, Mr. Zhao?"
Zhao Junchen shook his head and said: "I don't know if His Majesty will call me to accompany you. So I don't have any arrangements for the time being."
Su Changzhen suggested: "If Your Majesty does not summon Mr. Zhao to accompany him tomorrow, Mr. Zhao may allow his daughter Xiuning to accompany him to play in Xuzhou city for a day. Xuzhou connects the north and south and is adjacent to four provinces. The customs and customs are all unique. Characteristics. Xiuning’s mother is from Xuzhou. She has also lived in Xuzhou for a period of time and is familiar with Xuzhou’s environment. If my daughter, Xiuning, leads Mr. Zhao, we can have more fun during the trip."
I heard Su Changzhen’s suggestion. After Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, he felt that if he refused, he would inevitably damage Su Changzhen's face. Then he nodded and agreed: "If His Majesty has no arrangements tomorrow, I will trouble Miss Su."
When Su Changzhen saw that Zhao Junchen had agreed, he looked very happy and said repeatedly: "In that case, it's settled. If Your Majesty doesn't summon Mr. Zhao to accompany you tomorrow, I will ask my daughter to go with Mr. Zhao." Travel to Xuzhou."
Next, Su Changzhen chatted with Zhao Junchen for a few more words, then said goodbye and left.
It turned out that Su Changzhen met Zhao Junchen this time just to arrange for Zhao Junchen and Su Xiuning to visit Xuzhou City together!
After seeing Su Changjin off, Zhao Junchen thought carefully about Su Changjin's attitude. After a long time, he finally guessed what Su Changjin was thinking!
Unlike Zhou Shangjing, who was cautious and did not leave any excuses, Su Changzhen's official reputation was quite messy, and he was not so restrained when doing things. Over the years, he did not know how many corruption, bribery, and power-seeking things he had done, and he did not know how many censors had been criticized. Impeachment and reporting.
However, Emperor Deqing's attitude towards corrupt officials in the court was like fattening pigs. He only waited until they were fat enough before slaughtering them. This would not only increase internal revenue, but also quell public anger. It was a good thing that killed two birds with one stone.
Emperor Deqing's attitude towards Su Changjin was no exception. Although the imperial censors impeached Su Changjin countless times over the years, Emperor Deqing did not punish him. He just kept the impeachment details unpublished. When Su Changzhen is "fat" enough, and then all these impeachment details are taken out as evidence of guilt, in the end Su Changzhen will naturally not be able to escape the hands of Emperor Deqing.
In fact, Emperor Deqing relied on these impeachment tricks to force Su Changzhen to take his daughter Su Xiuning to meet Zhao Junchen for a blind date.
Therefore, for Su Changzhen, although concealing the Japanese pirate rebellion in Suzhou was serious, his other crimes were equally bad. For Su Changzhen, the hidden dangers of Suzhou were just too many lice and too many debts. Not worried, but not as worried and anxious as Zhou Shangjing.
According to Zhao Junchen's guess, when Emperor Deqing forced Su Changzhen to bring his daughter Su Xiuning to meet Zhao Junchen for a blind date, he must have made some promises - such as "If Su Changzhen marries Zhao Junchen, then Emperor Deqing will temporarily Su Changzhen will no longer be held accountable for his past crimes."
Therefore, for Su Changzhen, betrothing his daughter Su Xiuning to Zhao Junchen and marrying Zhao Junchen is his current top priority. If this matter is finally successful, then according to Emperor Deqing's original promise, even in the future, The incident in Xuzhou was discovered, and Su Changzhen could protect himself for the time being.
As a result, Su Changzhen naturally didn't pay much attention to matters in Suzhou, and instead focused on bringing Zhao Junchen and Su Xiuning together.
…………
Although he understood Su Changzhen's position and attitude, Zhao Junchen still frowned slightly and kept thinking in his heart.
Emperor Deqing's original promise to Su Changzhen seemed to be to force Su Changzhen to agree to marry Zhao Junchen. But now, after considering the matter in Suzhou, Zhao Junchen feels that this matter may not be that simple. .
"Perhaps Emperor Deqing gave Su Changzhen such a promise just to shake Su Changzhen's position and determination, so as to divert Su Changzhen's attention so that Su Changzhen would no longer be so careful about guarding against hidden dangers in Suzhou, and Deqing Emperor Qing will finally be able to use Su Changzhen to find Zhou Shangjing's flaw!"
When Zhao Junchen thought of this, his eyes flashed, and he felt that his guess was very possible.
"However, if I can guess such a situation, then with Zhou Shangjing's foresight, I can also guess it! In this case, what is Zhou Shangjing's position and opinion towards Su Changzhen? Maybe..."
While thinking secretly, Zhao Junchen frowned even more tightly, looking like he was thinking hard, feeling that his mind was not enough.
Over the past few days, Zhao Junchen had become accustomed to opponents like Wen Guanliang, Huang Yourong, and Shen Changmao. Now that he was suddenly involved in a struggle at the level of Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, Zhao Junchen found that he was not quite used to it!
Whether it is Zhou Shangjing or Emperor Deqing, their scheming, city government, methods, and vision are far beyond those of Zhao Junchen's former opponents. The overt and covert struggles between them are more obscure and dangerous, and they all started early. It was Zhao Junchen who was responsible for the layout and planning. It was only now that he discovered some traces of the fight between the two.
However, although it is embarrassing to realize it later, it is much better than not knowing it.
The overt and covert struggle between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing was also a good learning opportunity for Zhao Junchen.
Just as Zhao Junchen continued to consider the layout of Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing, Xu Qingyan suddenly pushed in the door again and reported: "Master, someone is asking to see you again. This time it is Chen Zhirong, the daughter of Duke Jing."
Although Chen Zhirong blended into the southern patrol team, she remained calm along the way and never disturbed Zhao Junchen. However, he did not expect that she would suddenly ask for a meeting at this time.
After Zhao Junchen thought for a moment, he nodded and said: "Let her come in."
After a while, Chen Zhirong entered the room under the leadership of Xu Qingyan.
Then, after greeting each other, Chen Zhirong asked directly and sweetly: "Mr. Zhao, do you have free time tomorrow? If nothing happens, can you go to Xuzhou City with Zhirong?"
…
ps: small chapter, sorry.
…(To be continued…)
Chapter 313. Invitation:
...
