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"It's just that Mr. Zhao is so kind-hearted all of a sudden, but it makes the old man a little uncomfortable."
While speaking, Huang Yourong stared at Zhao Junchen with sharp eyes, not missing any change in Zhao Junchen's expression.
However, Zhao Junchen's expression did not change at all. He still had a calm smile and an indifferent attitude, and said with a smile: "Junior has always been kind to Senior Huang, but in the past, due to the situation, this kind of kindness could not be expressed. That’s it, now that I finally have the opportunity, I naturally won’t miss it.”
After a pause, Zhao Junchen continued: "What's more, when there was friction between the junior and the 'Zhou Party', Senior Huang also secretly helped. At that time, the junior promised to Senior Huang that there would be something to do in the future. In return, at least for the family property that you gave to His Majesty, Senior Huang, this junior will help you recover the loss through other means. For example, what this senior is doing is also to fulfill the original promise... Although this junior is not a good person, most of the time Still keep his promise.”
After hearing Zhao Junchen's explanation, Huang Yourong's eyes flashed with surprise.
At the beginning, there was some friction between the "Zhao Party" and the "Zhou Party" in order to compete for cabinet seats. Compared with the deep-rooted "Zhou Party", the "Zhao Party" unsurprisingly fell behind, and Zhao Junchen at this time However, he found another way, secretly teaming up with Huang Yourong, and using Huang Yourong's remaining influence on the "Shen Party" to involve the "Shen Party" in the conflict. In the end, the party struggle became more and more intense, forcing Emperor Deqing to have no choice but to If they did not stop it in time, it is precisely because of this that the "Zhao Party" did not suffer too much in this party struggle with great disparity in strength.
At that time, Zhao Junchen persuaded Huang Yourong to help on the condition that he would help Huang Yourong escape from the temple, and that Zhao Junchen would help Huang Yourong recover his losses after Huang Yourong gave his life savings to Emperor Deqing.
However, at that time, Huang Yourong's status in the temple was quite embarrassing. He would be criticized by hundreds of officials every day, and he might be accused by Emperor Deqing at some point. He was eager to escape and had no other choice, so he could only agree to Zhao Junchen. conditions of.
In the end, after the party struggle between the "Zhao Party" and the "Zhou Party" came to an end, Zhao Junchen, as a middleman, gave Huang Yourong's life savings to Emperor Deqing, and Huang Yourong finally got his wish and escaped from the temple.
When things got to this point, half of Zhao Junchen's promise to Huang Yourong had been fulfilled, but Huang Yourong didn't expect that Zhao Junchen would actually fulfill the other half of his promise.
After all, Huang Yourong's life savings amounted to millions of taels of silver. If Zhao Junchen wanted to help Huang Yourong recover his losses, he would need to help Huang Yourong find a way to make money worth millions of taels of silver. This is not a small number. If Zhao Junchen If there is such a way to make money, whether it is used to strengthen one's own strength or to buy off cronies, it is far more appropriate than giving it to Huang Yourong - Huang Yourong judges others by himself, and is used to seeing treacherous villains, so he thinks Zhao Junchen will definitely be perfunctory in this regard.
Therefore, after Huang Yourong learned that Zhao Junchen recommended him to become the imperial envoy today, he never thought about it. Subconsciously, he did not think that Zhao Junchen was keeping his promise, but thought that Zhao Junchen had some bad ideas and planned to do it again. Taking advantage of himself, that's why he hurried to the Zhao Mansion, just to find out Zhao Junchen's intentions.
But I never thought that Zhao Junchen still remembered this promise and seriously planned to fulfill it!
The investigation and arrest of Su Changzhen, and the participation in the founding ceremony of the "United Shipping Company" held by Huizhou merchants as a special envoy of the imperial court. If these two things were done properly, they could make up for most of Huang Yourong's losses.
After hearing Zhao Junchen's reply, Huang Yourong still felt a little incredible.
"Really?" Huang Yourong asked hesitantly.
Zhao Junchen nodded, with sincerity on his face, and said: "That's true! But...as the junior said just now, the junior's goodwill towards you, Senior Huang, has always existed, so the junior hopes that the cooperation between us can be more Longer."
When speaking, Zhao Junchen's tone was meaningful.
It was obvious that Zhao Junchen planned to take the opportunity to win over Huang Yourong - although Huang Yourong had retired, as a former pavilion elder, he still had great utilization value.
A sneer flashed in Huang Yourong's eyes, and he knew that Zhao Junchen's intention was not just to fulfill his original promise.
After officially withdrawing from the temple war, Huang Yourong's vision as an outsider became sharper and clearer. After reviewing Zhao Junchen's rise in recent years, he spoke highly of Zhao Junchen's scheming methods and political vision. , believes that Zhao Junchen is a pure politician, and it is absolutely not unfair that he will lose to Zhao Junchen.
Therefore, a pure politician like Zhao Junchen may keep his promise on some insignificant and convenient things, but if huge interests are involved, Zhao Junchen will never hesitate to break his promise. . Today Zhao Junchen is willing to offer Huang Yourong such great benefits, definitely just because Zhao Junchen hopes to gain greater benefits from Huang Yourong!
Thinking of this, Huang Yourong's expression became a little wary, and he said: "Oh? No matter what, the old man was able to become the imperial minister only because of Master Zhao's strong support. Even if Master Zhao just wanted to fulfill his original promise, the old man also had the same intention. I am grateful. If, Mr. Zhao, you need my help for anything while I am serving as an imperial envoy, as long as it is within my ability, I will never refuse... But..."
At this point, Huang Yourong's tone was serious and he slowly added: "After I finish handling the matter between Su Changzhen and the United Shipping Company, I will no longer be an imperial envoy. I will just be a powerless old man." , Mr. Zhao, you are now very popular, but you don’t dare to climb high, so I’m afraid it’s better to forget about things like long-term cooperation.”
Obviously, after Huang Yourong escaped from the temple, he was no longer willing to get involved in the partisan struggles of the court. After discovering that Zhao Junchen had other plans for him, he decisively expressed his refusal.
Of course, Huang Yourong still didn't intend to let go of the fat commission Zhao Junchen gave him, so he would only cooperate with Zhao Junchen to a limited extent during his tenure as the imperial envoy.
On the other side, upon hearing Huang Yourong's polite refusal, Zhao Junchen did not show any displeasure and seemed to have anticipated Huang Yourong's attitude.
"If Senior Huang is not willing to cooperate for a long time, that's fine. Naturally, this junior will not dare to force it." Zhao Junchen said with a warm smile: "It's just that while Senior Huang is serving as the Imperial Envoy, there are some things that require Senior Huang's help. "
This time, Huang Yourong did not refuse, but just nodded and said: "As I said just now, this imperial envoy was originally given to me by Mr. Zhao. I also understand the principle of repaying a favor. If Mr. Zhao is involved in this matter, If you have any instructions on the matter, just say it and I will do my best when the time comes."
Zhao Junchen nodded with a smile and said: "If that's the case, you're welcome. First of all, it's the matter of Su Changzhen. I hope that when you go to South Zhili to investigate and arrest Su Changzhen, you can report Zuo Qian of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Gu Quan, the censor of the capital, was brought along. After all, Su Changzhen was a high-ranking official in the border area, and the case was quite complicated. Senior Huang alone might not be able to handle such a major case, and Mr. Gu Quan and Gu had served in the Third Division for many years. , rich in experience, if he is there to assist, Senior Huang will definitely be able to relax a lot."
After hearing Zhao Junchen's request, Huang Yourong pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "What Mr. Zhao said is reasonable. Su Changzhen's case cannot be handled by one person. If Mr. Gu Quan is there to help, of course it will be. It’s the best.”
Huang Yourong understood that Zhao Junchen placed Gu Quan'an beside him because he wanted to get a share of Su Changzhen's case. Huang Yourong did not object to this. After all, "everyone carries the sedan chair" was an official practice, and in the end he lost everything. It's not your own interests either.
Then, Zhao Junchen added: "In addition, it is about the 'United Shipping Company'! At the beginning, the purpose of the juniors founding the 'United Shipping Company' was to monopolize the shipping business of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River Waterway. After the establishment of the 'United Shipping Company' , although many Huizhou merchants enthusiastically joined, there are still a large number of Huizhou merchants who rejected the invitation of the younger generation. Not only did they not join the 'United Shipping Company', but they also harbored hostility and secretly caused mischief..."
Having said this, a hint of coldness flashed across Zhao Junchen's seemingly plain face, and he continued: "So, I hope that when Senior Huang participates in the 'United Ship Lines', he can help me to bring these Hui merchants who are ignorant of current affairs one by one." Eradication! The juniors have already prepared the specific details, but people like you, Senior Huang, are still needed to take charge of the overall situation! Although Senior Huang has become an official now, with your methods, you must still be able to rectify some unsightly Huizhou merchants. More than enough.”
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ps: There will be 2~3 updates tomorrow.
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