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Two days later, it will be March 22 of the lunar calendar. [No pop-up novel website]
According to the almanac, this day is not an auspicious day because "it is not appropriate to do anything and do not do anything else".
Around 11:00 in the afternoon of this day, a speedboat docked low-key near Huai'an Pier.
Then, three men stepped out of the clipper one after another. They were an old man with a black beard with a low-key manner and a gentle attitude, a middle-aged man with a solemn expression and an informal smile, and a young man with an elegant and calm temperament. .
Although these three people have different appearances and different ages, they are all very dignified and calm, and they are obviously from extraordinary backgrounds.
Needless to say, these three people were the scholar Huo Zhengyuan, the minister of rites Bao Wenjie, and the minister of household affairs Zhao Junchen who came to Huai'an to investigate the case.
They had come all the way and the speedboat was a bit bumpy, so the three of them were exhausted, especially the bachelor Huo Zhengyuan. Although he was good at keeping in good health and had always been in good health, he was a little older after all, and now he only felt sore in his back. Pain, weakness in legs and feet.
Therefore, after getting off the boat, Huo Zhengyuan first suggested: "Master Zhao, Master Bao, the three of us traveled from Xuzhou to Huai'an without rest day and night. We are all tired now. Why not find an inn to rest first."
In fact, the corruption case of Li Xin, the former prefect of Huai'an, is of great importance because it affects the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu, and Huo Zhengyuan is shaking the case.靼vertebral consideration Nishi 鄣 milk caries set waving machine Mei Jiao can hand over the raw fishy 莸玸ganjingyuan ⒉ 胩胩覓 acne pimple round 榘 Fu Nailao can go ┓笱芊芡香Tun thin?br/>
However, after hearing Huo Zhengyuan's proposal. Bao Wenjie frowned and said in a stern tone: "We are here with the Holy Order. Naturally, we should work diligently and investigate the case carefully. His Majesty will arrive in Huai'an in two days. There is not much time left for me to wait. How can we delay time just because we are a little tired? If we still fail to find out the case after Your Majesty arrives in Huai'an, how should we explain to Your Majesty?"
After a pause, Bao Wenjie put forward his own suggestion and said: "I think that for things like inns, you can just assign an attendant to arrange them. If it doesn't work, you can just live in the government office. But you and I A person has an imperial mandate, but he cannot waste time. He should contact local officials as soon as possible, then check the relevant case files, and re-interrogate the former Huai'an magistrate Li Xin!"
Unlike Huo Zhengyuan, Bao Wenjie had a very positive attitude towards the investigation because it was related to the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu, and he was obviously eager to clear the name of Prince Zhu Heyu.
However, Huo Zhengyuan was a bachelor in the imperial court after all. Although bachelors who were not in the cabinet were not valuable, according to Ming Dynasty practice, only bachelors who concurrently served as "three princes" or "three orphans" were considered cabinet ministers. After Emperor Deqing succeeded to the throne, in order to weaken the influence of the cabinet, he also increased the number of bachelors, but the status was still respected. However, Bao Wenjie's attitude towards Huo Zhengyuan was not respectful. Not only did he accuse Huo Zhengyuan of "disrespecting the sacred mandate" in person, but the suggestions that followed were no different from orders, and he could not help but lose his dignity.
However. Facing Bao Wenjie's rudeness, Huo Zhengyuan just frowned. There was no more expression.
*
Seeing Huo Zhengyuan's performance, Zhao Junchen shook his head secretly.
Huo Zhengyuan is the chief think tank of Ge Lao Huang Yourong's faction. There are even many people who believe that Huo Zhengyuan's mind, methods, city, etc. are stronger than Huang Yourong!
In some ways, this view is not wrong.
However, Huang Yourong eventually became the cabinet minister and one of the most powerful ministers in the court after Zhou Shangjing, while Huo Zhengyuan could only rely on Huang Yourong's family. Over the years, he had been submissive and obedient to Huang Yourong. Their achievements were very different and cannot be compared. , why is this?
In Zhao Junchen's view, the reason is Huo Zhengyuan's character flaws. He is too deep-tempered and a little too smart. He always likes to hide himself behind the scenes and let others take the lead. When encountering trouble, he always considers self-protection first. , never offends people face to face, is addicted to calculations, and lacks some decisiveness and courage, so he is destined to be the "second in command" material.
To put it harshly, Huo Zhengyuan is a top-notch "dog-headed strategist". Don't expect him to be able to act alone, but he is full of scheming and scheming, and he is the best at assisting others to achieve success.
Nowadays, Huo Zhengyuan has no temper when faced with Bao Wenjie's scorn, which is proof of this!
However, according to Zhao Junchen's plan, after the southern tour is over, Huang Yourong, who stayed in Beijing to assist the government, will quickly fall, and Zhao Junchen will take the opportunity to absorb Huang Yourong's power. At that time, Huo Zhengyuan in front of him will be the focus of Zhao Junchen's plan As long as Huo Zhengyuan is willing to defect to Zhao Junchen, Huo Zhengyuan will take the initiative to recruit other former "Yellow Party" officials to defect to Zhao Junchen without Zhao Junchen's reminder! Needless to say, this is beneficial to Zhao Junchen!
At present, the situation in the capital has not changed significantly, so it is not a good time for Zhao Junchen to win over Huo Zhengyuan, but since Bao Wenjie embarrassed Huo Zhengyuan regardless of his dignity, Zhao Junchen will not give up this opportunity to show his favor to Huo Zhengyuan.
*
So, after Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, he suddenly said: "I support the method of Master Huo. We have traveled all the way to Huai'an. We are exhausted both physically and mentally. Under such circumstances, we cannot handle what your Majesty has given us." There may be mistakes in the errand, so you might as well rest for a night and wait until you have better energy tomorrow to investigate the case seriously, which may have better results."
Hearing Zhao Junchen's statement, Bao Wenjie raised his eyebrows and planned to object again.
However, before Bao Wenjie could speak, Zhao Junchen was the first to say: "Master Bao, if I remember correctly, you have just entered the age of forty this year, right? At this age, you are at the peak of your prime, but Bachelor Huo is now five years old." Three times out of ten, he is not as energetic as you and me. It is true that Mr. Bao works hard, but he always needs to be considerate of the people around him, right? If we just insist on doing things regardless of physical and mental exhaustion, we will eventually make Master Huo fall ill. , but it will be a trouble, Mr. Bao, do you think this is true?"
Although Zhao Junchen's words were reasonable and he was slapped with a big label, Bao Wenjie was still unconvinced and said in a tough tone: "In that case, Mr. Zhao and Academician Huo can go to the inn to rest on their own, and I will go check it out first." The case is over!”
Zhao Junchen said with a smile: "Before leaving, His Majesty has given instructions that the three of us should investigate the case together and not act alone. Does Master Bao intend to violate the holy order? Of course, if Master Bao agrees with me and the Second Scholar Huo, If people like you investigate cases alone, then I will naturally have no objections."
Bao Wenjie was naturally worried about letting Zhao Junchen investigate the case alone, fearing that Zhao Junchen would take the opportunity to cause trouble for Prince Zhu Heyu, so after hesitating for a moment, he finally agreed to Zhao Junchen's proposal.
However, although he agreed to Zhao Junchen's proposal, Bao Wenjie still insisted on his opinion and said expressionlessly: "Since Mr. Zhao insists so much, I can't force it, but if the investigation is delayed because of this, then Mr. Zhao and Huo Bachelor, don’t blame Bao for impeaching the two of you!"
Zhao Junchen's smile remained unchanged and said: "Don't worry, if the investigation is really delayed, Mr. Bao will not need to impeach me by then. I will submit a document to plead guilty to His Majesty!"
After a pause, Zhao Junchen continued: "What's more, there is no conflict between investigation and rest... The corruption case of the former Huai'an magistrate Li Xin involved a wide range of things and had many hidden secrets. There was even a joint effort by Huai'an officials to There is a possibility of being framed, so if we rashly look for local officials to inquire about the case, we may be fooled and deceived by them. We might as well take advantage of the opportunity to find an inn to rest, conduct undercover visits, inquire about the truth, and collect intelligence from the people. We may gain something else. .”
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Bao Wenjie couldn't help but be stunned.
Although Bao Wenjie did not believe that the corruption case of the former Huai'an magistrate Li Xin was a wrongful conviction by Prince Zhu Heyu, he had to admit that the method proposed by Zhao Junchen was more effective and more reasonable.
Therefore, Bao Wenjie said nothing more.
On the other side, Huo Zhengyuan looked at Zhao Junchen in front of him, his expression thoughtful.
With Huo Zhengyuan's intelligence, he naturally understood that Zhao Junchen was going out of his way to help him.
However, the relationship between Zhao Junchen and Huang Yourong was like fire and water. Huang Yourong found it difficult to reconcile with Zhao Junchen after suffering repeated losses. As Huo Zhengyuan was Huang Yourong's right-hand man, why would Zhao Junchen deliberately help him? Regarding this point, Huo Zhengyuan couldn't figure it out. He just felt that Zhao Junchen seemed to have other intentions, and he was slightly wary.
However, when Zhao Junchen gestured to Huo Zhengyuan with a smile, Huo Zhengyuan still responded with a smile.
As they smiled and gestured to each other, the relationship between Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan seemed to have become much closer.
In fact, along the way, Zhao Junchen had been looking for opportunities to express his goodwill to Huo Zhengyuan, draw closer to the relationship between the two, and lay the foundation for his future plans. However, because there was Bao Wenjie next to him, one of the factions to which the three belonged to There were conflicts between them, so Zhao Junchen's idea has never been realized. In fact, what the three of them said along the way was not as much as what they said in just a short cup of tea!
Now, also because of Bao Wenjie, Zhao Junchen's idea has finally come true. Although it can be seen that Huo Zhengyuan is wary, it is at least a good start.
*
After making up their minds, the three of them took their respective entourages and began to look for a suitable inn to rest.
In fact, there are many inns near the pier, but most of them are simple and simple. They are the places where ordinary people and boatmen and porters stay. They are not suitable for the identities of the three of them. Although Huo Zhengyuan was extremely tired at this time, and Bao Wenjie had always claimed that he was An upright official who shares the suffering of the people, but none of them would condescend to stay in such an inn.
On the contrary, Zhao Junchen felt that it didn't matter as long as it was an inn, there would be first-class guest rooms, and no matter how bad the guest rooms were, they could still be occupied. But since Huo Zhengyuan and Bao Wenjie were both reluctant, Zhao Junchen would not force it.
So, after searching for a long time, the three of them finally found an acceptable inn in the east of Huai'an City.
This inn is called "Jufu Pavilion".
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…(To be continued…)
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