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Under the attention of everyone, the dragon boat slowly docked at Yangzhou Pier. [s: This site has a new URL, shorthand method:, xsw]
Then, amidst the shouts of long live the mountain, Emperor Deqing led his chief minister Zhou Shangjing, Ge Lao Shen Changmao, and Minister of Household Affairs Zhao Junchen to slowly set foot on the land of Yangzhou.
The process of welcoming the driver has already been arranged, and everyone is acting according to the rules like puppets. Although it is solemn and grand, it is also ordinary.
However, because Zhao Junchen had been following Emperor Deqing, this situation fell into the eyes of some interested people, causing some disturbances in the calm situation.
Chinese people have always liked to speculate, especially in the officialdom. Officials are always very particular about their positions, name arrangement, and order of appearance. Once there is a slight change, it will lead to countless speculations and discussions.
Logically speaking, when Emperor Deqing came to Yangzhou, the only court officials who were qualified to follow Emperor Deqing and receive the welcome with Emperor Deqing were only a few cabinet ministers, but this time Zhao Junchen also Joined it, and walked side by side with core ministers such as Chief Minister Zhou Shangjing and Pavilion Elder Shen Changmao!
what does that mean? Could it be that in the heart of Emperor Deqing, Zhao Junchen's status was no less than that of several cabinet ministers?
Zhao Junchen was the most favored minister of Emperor Deqing. Everyone had heard about it, but it was not until this time that all walks of life in Yangzhou discovered Emperor Deqing's favor for Zhao Junchen when they saw Emperor Deqing taking Zhao Junchen with him. He was even better than the rumors, far beyond the comparison of ordinary ministers, so their attention to Zhao Junchen instantly increased a lot.
Every move of the emperor always has a far-reaching impact and should not be underestimated.
Therefore, this time Emperor Deqing took Zhao Junchen with him and disembarked from the ship with Zhao Junchen. It seemed like a random arrangement, but it was indeed a great favor.
Emperor Deqing didn't pay much, but his arrangement did bring great benefits to Zhao Junchen - at least, after this incident, Zhao Junchen would be more confident when he comes into contact with certain people in the future. And the opponent's confidence will be weakened a lot.
For example, although many Yangzhou salt merchants originally planned to bribe Zhao Junchen and wanted to win Zhao Junchen's support in the "Sichuan Salt Reform", they may not really value Zhao Junchen. I also had the idea in my mind that "if Zhao Junchen is not easy to bribe, then he should bypass Zhao Junchen and contact Emperor Deqing or the chief assistant Zhou Shangjing directly." I felt that if I got the support of Emperor Deqing or the chief assistant Zhou Shangjing, then even without Zhao Junchen It doesn't matter what Junchen's background is.
But at this time, when the Yangzhou salt merchants saw that Emperor Deqing was so fond of Zhao Junchen, they all gave up the idea of luck. The attention paid to Zhao Junchen also immediately rose to a new level.
In this regard, Emperor Deqing, intentionally or unintentionally, laid a good foundation for Zhao Junchen's plan in Jiangnan.
Of course, whether Zhao Junchen would be grateful for Emperor Deqing's kindness afterwards is another matter.
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After a ceremonial process, Emperor Deqing asked the prefect of Yangzhou about the current situation in Yangzhou, issued some instructions to all walks of life in Yangzhou, and got acquainted with several representatives from all walks of life in Yangzhou. The welcoming ceremony was over.
Next, Emperor Deqing got on the royal carriage. Proceed to the temporary palace in Yangzhou.
Because Zhao Junchen received permission from Emperor Deqing to take a period of leave, he did not continue to accompany him. Instead, he found Zhao Deqing, and then took a carriage with Zhao Deqing to leave Yangzhou City in a low-key manner. The ancestral home of the Zhao family in the suburbs.
There, Zhao Junchen had many things to investigate and arrange.
During the reception, Zhao Deqing also saw Emperor Deqing's favor for Zhao Junchen, and was very excited about it. He continued to compliment and please Zhao Junchen, but after Zhao Junchen got on the carriage, he did not say anything polite to Zhao Deqing, but directly asked Zhao Deqing about the preparations of the Zhao family in Yangzhou during this period.
Because Zhao Junchen sent Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan to Yangzhou in advance, Zhao Deqing did not dare to hide anything from Zhao Junchen's inquiry. He quickly described the preparations of the Zhao family during this period to Zhao Junchen in detail.
However, there are many things - such as donating money to gain fame, and returning the land taken by the Zhao family to its original owners, etc. - are obviously due to the suggestions and "force" of Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan, but Zhao Deqing is at this time. When narrating, he took all the credit for these things on himself, showing that he worked hard, had high consciousness, and sacrificed a lot.
Obviously. Zhao Deqing wanted to take the opportunity to reverse Zhao Junchen's bad impression of the Zhao family in Yangzhou.
Zhao Junchen also knew that Zhao Deqing's account was bound to have some inaccuracies, but Zhao Junchen did not expose it. After all, this was just a preliminary investigation. Zhao Junchen still had to ask Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan for further details.
Compared with these unworthy "relatives" of the Zhao family in Yangzhou, Zhao Junchen still believed more in Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan, the two masters of the Zhao family who knew everything about them.
Therefore, after listening to Zhao Deqing's narration, Zhao Junchen nodded with satisfaction, and then asked: "A few days ago, I sent two masters from the government to Yangzhou to help you. One is named Su Xiqing, and the other is named Xiao Wenxuan, where are they now? Why didn’t I see them? "
Zhao Deqing replied: "The people who are waiting for you at the pier today are all carefully selected by the Yangzhou government. In order to ensure that everything goes smoothly, except for people from all walks of life who are waiting for you, other people are not allowed to get close. Su The same is true for Master and Master Xiao, so I advised them to wait at the Zhao family's ancestral home, and you can see them when Mr. Zhao returns to the ancestral home."
Zhao Junchen nodded, originally planning to stop the conversation and think about something alone.
However, unexpectedly, after Zhao Deqing hesitated for a moment, he suddenly began to complain to Zhao Junchen.
It was said to be a complaint, but in fact it was a complaint, a small report against Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan.
Why did Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan look down on the Zhao family, bully the children of the Zhao family, use chicken feathers as arrows, only add to the trouble, and even have ulterior motives, deceive others, be disloyal to Zhao Junchen, etc. Wait, and so on.
According to Zhao Deqing, without the hindrance of Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan, the Zhao family in Yangzhou could have made better and more adequate preparations. As Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan were foreigners, they were not of the same mind as Zhao Junchen and might have other agendas. Moreover, Zhao Junchen has now returned to the Zhao family, so these two people look down on Zhao Junchen because they look down on the Yangzhou Zhao family, so Zhao Junchen should punish them severely.
After quietly listening to Zhao Deqing's complaints, Zhao Junchen did not express any opinions. He just took a deep look at Zhao Deqing and nodded noncommittally.
Zhao Deqing originally wanted to say something, but after seeing Zhao Junchen's attitude, he suddenly felt a little uneasy for some reason, and he swallowed the rest of his words and complaints again.
And inside the carriage, silence finally returned.
*
Finally, when it was getting late, the carriage finally arrived at the Zhao family's ancestral home.
Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan, who Zhao Deqing said should be severely punished, had been waiting for Zhao Junchen outside the Zhao family's ancestral home for a long time.
Back then, the Yangzhou Zhao family kicked Zhao Junchen's mother out of the clan, which affected Zhao Junchen's life. Now that Zhao Junchen has returned to the Zhao family's ancestral home, it stands to reason that he should feel a little emotional.
However, Zhao Junchen had already "become dead". At this time, when Zhao Junchen came to the Zhao family's ancestral home, he did not have any mood swings or any special thoughts. In fact, Zhao Junchen had no feelings for the Zhao family in Yangzhou. Due to the emotions of too many people, in his eyes, the Zhao family's ancestral home was not much different from the outer house of an inn, it was just a temporary resting place.
Therefore, after arriving at the Zhao family's ancestral home, Zhao Junchen got off the carriage without stopping at all, nor did he seriously look at what the Zhao family's ancestral home looked like. He just met some of the main figures of the Zhao family in Yangzhou, and then came to the Zhao family's home. He prepared a room for himself and summoned Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan to ask again about the preparations of the Zhao family in Yangzhou during this period.
Regarding Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan also gave detailed answers. The content was roughly the same as Zhao Deqing's answer. However, in the mouths of Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan, the people who deceived superiors and deceived others and pretended to be powerful became the Zhao family of Yangzhou. If Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan had not been working hard to correct the situation, the preparations for the Zhao family in Yangzhou would not have been completed.
Then, Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan looked at each other, and Xiao Wenxuan finally bowed to Zhao Junchen and suggested: "Sir Zhao, for the sake of your future, we suggest that you try to change the head of the Zhao family...that Zhao Deqing is short-sighted and forgetful about his own interests, so he is definitely not a good choice for the head of the family!"
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…(To be continued.)
