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After Zhao Junchen left the Yangzhou Palace, he planned to return to the Zhao family's ancestral home to prepare for the next stop of his southern tour.
Sitting on the carriage, Zhao Junchen was seriously thinking about his next plan. Unknowingly, Zhao Junchen's carriage had left Yangzhou City and arrived at the western suburbs of Yangzhou City.
While Zhao Junchen was deep in thought, the carriage suddenly stopped.
After a while, Xu Qingyan opened the carriage door curtain and reported to Zhao Junchen: "Master, someone stopped our carriage halfway. They said that an old friend wanted to meet the young master and sent a token."
While talking, Xu Qingyan handed the token to Zhao Junchen.
Zhao Junchen looked down and found that the so-called "token" was a volume of "The Biography of the Marquis of Huaiyin".
Then, Zhao Junchen suddenly laughed!
I remember that when Zhao Junchen had just defeated Wen Guanliang, the first assistant Zhou Shangjing gave Zhao Junchen a gift, which was a volume of "The Biography of the Marquis of Huaiyin", which was a metaphor for Zhao Junchen's future ending!
Obviously, the person who wants to secretly meet Zhao Junchen is the chief assistant Zhou Shangjing!
Zhao Junchen was not surprised by Zhou Shangjing's sudden appearance - in fact, the two parties had been in contact as early as Xuzhou. Now, the battle between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing is about to begin. After both sides are well prepared, in order to increase their chances of winning, they naturally look for foreign aid. Not only Emperor Deqing will do this, but Zhou Shangjing will do the same!
Moreover, Zhao Junchen believed that in the next period of time, not only would he be attracted by both sides, but also many influential court officials - such as the elder Shen Changmao who accompanied the southern tour - would also be attracted by both sides.
Although Emperor Deqing's wooing conditions were attractive, they were inevitably somewhat lacking in sincerity. So what kind of conditions would Zhou Shangjing offer in order to woo Zhao Junchen?
Zhao Junchen was quite looking forward to this.
*
With such expectations, Zhao Junchen got off the carriage and, led by the roadblock, came to a small teahouse on the roadside. After entering the teahouse, Zhao Junchen saw Zhou Shangjing in the corner of the teahouse.
In the teahouse, except Zhou Shangjing. There was no one else there anymore. Not only were there no guests, but even the teahouse keeper was nowhere to be found.
At this time, Zhou Shangjing was wearing a gray shirt, and his temperament was also sharp. He looked like a down-and-out old Confucian scholar, just making tea unhurriedly.
However, although Zhou Shangjing's clothes are ordinary, the tea sets he has at hand are extremely exquisite, including a high-quality Yixing clay pot, a precious Ru kiln tea cup, his own soft water, and unknown precious tea leaves. In addition, there is no shortage of utensils such as tea keys, tea cups, tea drains, tea lotuses, etc.
While the tea is brewing, the aroma of tea fills the room and is refreshing.
When Zhao Junchen entered the teahouse, Zhou Shangjing raised his head and glanced at Zhao Junchen. Smiling slightly, he said: "I have cooked a pot of good tea. Let's talk while drinking."
Zhao Junchen also smiled and nodded, then sat opposite Zhou Shangjing, raised the tea cup and said: "Juniors still don't understand tea art. Drinking tea is just to quench your thirst. If you drink too much, I'm afraid you will waste the good tea art of your seniors again. "
Hearing what Zhao Junchen meant, Zhou Shang nodded. He said: "It doesn't matter, as long as it can quench your thirst."
After a few words, Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing fell silent, and each just drank two cups of tea.
Wait until the pot of tea is finished. Zhou Shangjing finally broke the silence and asked: "I had an in-depth talk with you when we were in Xuzhou. I wonder, Junchen, what are you thinking about now? After arriving in Suzhou, will you help me secretly? Or will you help His Majesty openly?"
Zhao Junchen did not answer, but changed the topic. Said: "Not long ago, this junior went to see His Majesty."
Seeing Zhao Junchen change the topic, Zhou Shangjing didn't look unhappy at all. He just nodded and said, "I know."
Zhao Junchen continued: "It was originally about the next stop of the southern tour. Unexpectedly, His Majesty suddenly talked about my senior. I am quite worried that after you retire from office, there will be no one in the court who can take charge of the overall situation."
Zhou Shangjing's gray eyebrows raised slightly, but he didn't express anything. He just listened quietly to Zhao Junchen's words.
Zhao Junchen added: "According to His Majesty's wishes, under such circumstances, it may be a good idea for the two cabinet ministers Shen and Huang to jointly preside over the cabinet. However, the relationship between the two cabinet ministers Shen and Huang has become closer in recent times. In order to prevent the cabinet from becoming their sole proprietor, His Majesty also plans to add an important court official with different political views to the cabinet."
This was the condition for Emperor Deqing to win over Zhao Junchen. Now Zhao Junchen told Zhou Shangjing without reservation. The meaning is obvious - if the price you offer cannot be higher, then I am sorry that I can only support Emperor Deqing.
Zhou Shangjing's seemingly dim eyes fluctuated for a moment, and then he suddenly smiled and said: "According to the plans you have left in the capital, you may not necessarily need His Majesty's support if you want to join the cabinet."
Zhao Junchen also smiled and said leisurely: "You can't put your eggs in one basket."
Zhao Junchen's plan to use the commercial tax reform to frame Prince Zhu Heyu was already known to Zhou Shangjing. When they were in Xuzhou, when the two had a showdown, Zhou Shangjing vaguely threatened Zhao Junchen. If Zhao Junchen did not help him survive the crisis in Suzhou, then he would use Zhao Junchen's plan to divert Emperor Deqing's attention. In this way, Emperor Deqing was busy cleaning up the mess of commercial tax reform, and naturally he could not take care of Zhou Shangjing. However, the chaos of commercial tax reform was triggered in advance, and the damage caused to Prince Zhu Heyu and Huang Yourong would also be reduced a lot. In this way First of all, Zhao Junchen's plan was half the result with twice the result.
Now, Zhou Shangjing's mention of Zhao Junchen's plan is still an implicit threat.
However, Zhao Junchen ignored Zhou Shangjing's threat and said that his plan was just to intervene in the cabinet. If he helped Emperor Deqing deal with Zhou Shangjing, he could also achieve the same goal. As for the prince Zhu Heyu, he would slowly plan to do so in the future. That’s it.
After hearing Zhao Junchen's answer, Zhou Shangjing was silent for a moment again, and then said: "Junchen, the plans you have to stay in the capital are very clever and interesting, and they also have many benefits for me, so I won't do it unless it is a last resort. Sabotage those plans of yours and wait until the flowers and fruits are ripe before picking them, you will surely gain a greater harvest."
Zhou Shangjing's words indicated that he would no longer threaten Zhao Junchen with Zhao Junchen's plan, which was considered a step back.
Zhao Junchen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression was very calm and he said: "Senior is brilliant!"
Then, Zhou Shangjing finally offered his price and said, "Once Junchen's plan to stay in the capital is realized, Prince Zhu Heyu will certainly fall into the situation that Wanfu pointed out, but under His Majesty's protection, We can still keep the position of crown prince, but Huang Yourong will definitely become the scapegoat. At that time, I will try my best to support your position, Junchen, in the vacant position in the cabinet, how about it?"
"Thank you, senior, for your support. I am very grateful to you, junior!"
While speaking, although Zhao Junchen said he was grateful, his expression was dull and he did not express any further.
Seeing Zhao Junchen's statement, Zhou Shangjing shook his head helplessly and said: "In order to deal with me, your majesty united the six departments of Nanjing. I know that Junchen, you have always wanted to take over the power of the Nanjing household department. From this aspect, you My interests are the same and we have a common enemy. After this matter is resolved, I will fully support you, Junchen, in taking over the various powers and responsibilities of the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs!"
Zhao Junchen's expression moved slightly.
The Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs is in charge of land tax, commercial tax, and mining tax in various places in the south of the Yangtze River. Zhao Junchen has always wanted to take over power and has his own plan. But if he gets the support of Zhou Shangjing, then the possibility of Zhao Junchen's success will naturally increase a lot. !
However, if Zhou Shangjing's conditions were nothing more than this, it would still not be enough to impress Zhao Junchen.
After all, Zhao Junchen is still inseparable from the support of Emperor Deqing. If you want to persuade Zhao Junchen to oppose Emperor Deqing, even if you only do it secretly, you will need very generous conditions!
Seeing that Zhao Junchen's expression remained the same, Zhou Shangjing sighed softly, seeming to blame Zhao Junchen for being too greedy.
However, after a moment, Zhou Shangjing said again: "At the end of the year, the four-year Beijing inspection will begin. At that time, I will also support Junchen's position to a certain extent!"
When Zhou Shangjing spoke, Zhao Junchen was about to pick up the tea cup and prepare to drink tea. But after he heard Zhou Shangjing's words, the hand holding the tea subconsciously trembled slightly, and some of the tea was spilled.
However, Zhao Junchen did not care about the tea. He just looked up at Zhou Shangjing and asked seriously: "Is this true?"
At the same time, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but be tempted by Zhou Shangjing's conditions.
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Well, the second update today!
…(To be continued.)
