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Emperor Deqing stayed in Yangzhou for a total of seven days. The apparent reason was that Yangzhou's beautiful scenery and prosperous humanities inspired Emperor Deqing's interest in traveling, so he stayed for a few more days. During this period, Emperor Deqing also He was indeed wandering around with great interest, showing a leisurely and carefree appearance, focusing on the mountains and rivers. This article was first published by
However, only a few discerning people knew that Emperor Deqing's fun and leisure activities were all illusions, just to gain buffer time. In the past few days, Emperor Deqing has been secretly planning things in Suzhou. When Emperor Deqing finished his "tour" and planned to leave Yangzhou, it meant that Emperor Deqing's layout was in place!
Of course, Zhou Shangjing has not been idle during this period. He is also secretly preparing something. When the southern patrol team arrives in Suzhou, a thrilling overt and covert struggle will appear. Where will the situation in the imperial court go? No one will know. Can not guess.
While Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing were preparing their own preparations, Zhao Junchen did not waste time during these seven days and dealt with many things. First, he selected a group of young talents from the Zhao family and sent them to the Imperial Academy, and also confirmed He selected women from the Zhao family who would enter the palace in the future, rectified the internal forces of the Zhao family, established contact with the Hui-Zhejiang merchant gang, and initially formed his own staff team, which can be regarded as a remarkable achievement.
Especially when building a staff team, Zhao Junchen successively discovered four useful talents: Niu Fude, Ouyang Bo, Li Chuanwen, and Li Lun. For Zhao Junchen, who had been troubled by the lack of talents under his staff, it was a fruitful harvest. .
Of course, although these four people are all talented, Zhao Junchen has just hired them. Both parties are strangers, and it is not yet certain what their professional ethics and loyalty are, let alone trust, so at the beginning, some things involved the core of confidentiality. Zhao Junchen would not leave it to them. His attitude towards them was mainly to bribe them and observe and test them. After confirming the loyalty of the four of them in the future, he would slowly entrust them with important responsibilities.
After all, the profession of master is quite special. The background is also very complicated. Before they assisted Zhao Junchen, they had assisted many different officials. Although the masters had their own professional ethics, no one could guarantee whether they would still be loyal to certain old masters. Take Li Chuanwen as an example. He has assisted five officials. The official positions of these five officials range from high to low. Some have become officials and some are still active in the officialdom. However, most of them are officials from the Huang Yourong faction. These people hired Li Chuanwen. During this period, everyone regarded Li Chuanwen as a confidant and reused them. If Li Chuanwen still cared about their old relationship. If Zhao Junchen's information is leaked to them in the future, the harm to Zhao Junchen will not be great.
so. After establishing an employment relationship with Niu Fude, Ouyang Bo, Li Chuanwen, and Li Lun, Zhao Junchen sent people to investigate their origins, resumes, and personalities in detail, while using various means to strengthen their win over, either promising benefits or having heart-to-heart conversations. , either with promises of kindness or hints of threats, with both soft and hard tactics. As for the effect, it still needs to be observed slowly.
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Between busyness. Time flies so fast that in the blink of an eye it is already the seventh day since Zhao Junchen arrived in Yangzhou.
this day. Zhao Junchen came to the Yangzhou Palace and planned to ask Emperor Deqing for instructions on the next stop of the southern tour.
After expressing his intention to come, Zhao Junchen was quickly summoned by Emperor Deqing.
However, when Zhao Junchen entered Emperor Deqing's temporary study room, he found that Emperor Deqing was talking with a strange young man. From the look on Emperor Deqing's face, he seemed to attach great importance to this young man. Zhao Junchen did not Dare to disturb, but just stood aside and waited with hands down, secretly guessing the origin of this young man.
This young man is about 27 or 28 years old. He is dressed in luxurious clothes, has a graceful temperament, and has an arrogant expression. It seems that he should be a child of a noble family, but his body is strong and his movements are capable. He doesn't seem to be an ordinary playboy who has been practicing martial arts all year round.
When Emperor Deqing was talking to the young man, his words were quite inclusive. He affectionately called the young man "Shilin" and asked about the young man's family situation in detail. Zhao Junchen stood aside and listened carefully. It was not possible to accurately determine the origin of this young man for a while, but according to Emperor Deqing's attitude, Zhao Junchen paid more and more attention to this young man.
Finally, after Emperor Deqing finished chatting with the young man, he turned to look at Zhao Junchen and said with a smile: "Oh? Junchen is here. I am talking to the descendants of the Wu family. It is a coincidence that you are here, and you two are here. Get to know people.”
Then, Emperor Deqing introduced to Zhao Junchen: "This son's name is Wu Shilin. He is the youngest son of Wu Yingxiong, the governor of Jiliao. He is currently working under his father and is temporarily serving as the chief soldier. I heard that he returned to Gaoyou a few days ago. I wanted to visit relatives in my hometown, so I called him over to talk, talk about home affairs, and learn about the current situation in Liaodong... The Wu family has been a general and the pillar of the country for generations. In the past forty years, the Wu family has served as the governor of Jiliao five times, and the Wu family has occupied The three of them have made outstanding contributions to the imperial court, and although Shilin is young, he has a bright future. If he can take over his father's position in the future, he will be a governor for three generations, which will be a good story."
Next, Emperor Deqing introduced Zhao Junchen to Wu Shilin.
After hearing Zhao Junchen's identity, Wu Shilin's attitude was full of respect, without any arrogance of a noble son, and he greeted Zhao Junchen politely.
On the other side, Zhao Junchen also returned the gift to Wu Shilin with a calm expression, not mentioning any polite words in his mouth.
However, under the calm appearance, Zhao Junchen was very shocked inside.
The young man in front of me is actually a descendant of Wu Sangui!
Zhao Junchen had known for a long time that with the changes in history, Wu Sangui did not "turn into a beauty in anger", and his destiny also changed greatly. Not only did he not become a notorious traitor for thousands of years, but he repeatedly made meritorious deeds, deposed the Jurchens, and killed the rebels. In addition to promotions and titles, the Wu family has become a general for generations and has a high reputation.
Although he was shocked, Zhao Junchen's expression was very calm. When he returned the gift to Wu Shilin, his expression was also very ordinary. He was neither distant nor close, nor did he show any intention of wooing him. He just secretly guessed about Emperor Deqing in his heart. The profound meaning of suddenly summoning Wu Shilin.
After all, the Wu family is the leading general, and Zhao Junchen is a powerful official in the court. Both parties have very sensitive identities, and it is not advisable to have too close contact, otherwise it will only arouse the suspicion of Emperor Deqing - in fact, in Emperor Deqing's words The meaning was very clear, it was just for the two of them to "get to know each other" rather than to "make a deep friendship". Naturally, Zhao Junchen did not dare to cross the line, at least not openly.
But after Zhao Junchen and Wu Shilin greeted each other, Emperor Deqing chatted with Wu Shilin for a few more words, and then asked Wu Shilin to withdraw.
After Wu Shilin left, Zhao Junchen remembered his purpose of coming and asked Emperor Deqing for instructions on the next arrangements for the southern tour.
Emperor Deqing pondered for a moment and then said: "Well, Yangzhou has beautiful scenery and prosperous humanities. I can't help but indulge in it. Unknowingly, I have already stayed for seven days. It is really time to set off and continue the southern tour... …Let’s go and make arrangements, and we’ll drive to Changzhou at a quarter of an hour tomorrow.”
Zhao Junchen asked: "But I don't know how many days your Majesty do you plan to stay in Changzhou? I might as well inform the Changzhou area in advance so that they can be prepared."
Emperor Deqing said: "Two days is enough."
After hearing Emperor Deqing's answer, Zhao Junchen already knew it in his heart.
Although Changzhou's scenery is not as famous as Yangzhou's, there are still many scenic spots. However, Emperor Deqing only stayed in Changzhou for just two days. Apparently everything in Suzhou was ready, and Emperor Deqing was about to attack, and he was no longer there. Need to delay further.
After the Southern Patrol Fleet passed Changzhou, the next stop was Suzhou!
Once there, there will be a lot of excitement to see.
After thinking about it secretly, Zhao Junchen agreed and planned to leave.
However, just as Zhao Junchen was about to leave, Emperor Deqing suddenly spoke and asked an extremely sensitive question.
"Junchen, speaking of which, what do you think of the current cabinet in the imperial court?"
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ps: I'm in a bad mood and confused, so I'm sorry for the late update! !
…(To be continued)
