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After hearing Zhao Junchen's apology and advice, Zhou Shangjing took a deep look at Zhao Junchen, his eyes full of reproach, as if he were close to his elders and saw a naughty junior who did not listen to advice and got into trouble.
But that's all. Zhou Shangjing didn't feel angry, nor did he feel like facing a powerful enemy like Zhao Junchen. On the surface, he was still calm, as if he was still at ease.
However, seeing Zhou Shangjing's performance, Zhao Junchen's heart sank.
Afterwards, Zhou Shangjing shook his head and sighed, and said: "Junchen, although you have been walking on thin ice every step of the way, it has been very smooth. Although there have been a few stumbles, they are just a few." It's just a small setback that doesn't matter, but there has never been a painful lesson that hurt my muscles and bones...
So, Junchen, although you are talented and intelligent, and you are self-taught in many official rules, and you have always understood that it is not just you who plots against others, but others will plot against you in the temple, but it is never impressive enough...
Just like what happened this time, Junchen, you only focus on the benefits of staying in the center of the temple as the sole leader after I left the capital. You also just want to stand by and let your Majesty take me away, and you will benefit from it. , but ignored that you may also be His Majesty's target, which is why we both have to leave the capital now!
Alas, Your Majesty, his method this time is really clever... Although I have pointed out your faults, Junchen, I may not be able to understand all the pros and cons in time if we change places. "
Zhao Junchen still looked like he was bowing his head and listening to the instruction. He once again admitted his mistake and said: "This junior is greedy for profit and has no regard for the overall situation. I have let you down, Chief Minister Zhou. I will definitely remember today's lesson in the future... But the current top priority is still to think about it." After you, Chief Minister Haozhou, and the two juniors left the capital, the situation in the center of the temple changed...
To be honest, your majesty’s move today was really without warning and unexpected. This junior’s little thoughts were completely taken advantage of by your majesty. What makes this junior even more anxious is... I still can’t figure out why your majesty. We must be transferred from the center of the capital? During the following period, as the two of us left Beijing for inspection, His Majesty completely lost the checks and balances of his ministerial power. I am afraid that he is going to make some big move, but what big move His Majesty will make, this junior has no clue. ! "
Zhou Shangjing shook his head and sighed again, and continued: "The Holy Heart is unpredictable and has been like this since ancient times. That's why it is said that accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger! But I can guess some signs of His Majesty's Sacred Heart being arbitrary this time!
In fact, Junchen, you are well-informed, and you will probably receive the news in a few days, that is... our Crown Prince will return to the capital soon! "
Hearing Zhou Shangjing's explanation, Zhao Junchen was suddenly shocked again!
Zhao Junchen was shocked, not because Prince Zhu Heyu was about to return to the capital, but because he had not received relevant news in advance!
You know, Zhao Junchen has always attached great importance to collecting intelligence and has established several intelligence agencies. For such important events as Prince Zhu Heyu is about to return to the capital, Zhao Junchen should receive the news in advance no matter what.
Moreover, according to Zhou Shangjing, Zhao Junchen was so well-informed that it would take several days to receive the relevant news. This situation was like being deaf and blind to Zhao Junchen!
Seeing Zhao Junchen's reaction, Zhou Shangjing patiently explained: "About this matter, it's natural that you, Junchen, couldn't receive the news in time!
During this period of time, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been responsible for investigating the crimes of various vassals. Although he has achieved great results, he has also caused a lot of troubles. For a time, he was hiding from the new imperial envoy Wang Youlun who was unwilling to hand over power and responsibilities. In the end, Wang Youlun was still blocked in Hengzhou. government, and then was placed under house arrest!
It stands to reason that after Wang Youlun placed His Highness the Crown Prince under house arrest, he has been busy cleaning up the troubles His Highness the Prince made. Only after he has cleaned up all these messes will he return to the capital with His Highness the Crown Prince. Therefore, His Highness the Prince, he Originally, he had to wait for a while before returning to the capital.
At the same time, Wang Youlun was very valued by His Majesty and had a close relationship with His Highness the Seventh Prince. Therefore, after His Highness the Seventh Prince was forced to leave the capital and go to Nanjing for business, His Majesty sent a secret edict to Wang Youlun, and His Highness the Seventh Prince also sent Someone sent a secret letter to Wang Youlun. I guess they all wanted to tell Wang Youlun and Wang Youlun to try to delay the time, so that His Highness the Crown Prince could not return to the capital before His Highness the Seventh Prince.
After all, if His Highness the Crown Prince is the first to return to the center of the capital, while His Highness the Seventh Prince is still stranded in Nanjing, and coupled with the current positions of you and me, the matter of abolishing the crown prince may change again!
Therefore, after Wang Youlun received His Majesty's imperial edict and the secret letter from His Highness the Seventh Prince, he immediately began to delay the time. He had no intention of returning to the capital with His Highness the Crown Prince. He just wanted to wait for His Highness the Seventh Prince to finish the Nanjing trip first. thing.
However, after all kinds of experiences, our Prince's Highness has grown a lot in his methods and mind. He knows very well that he must return to the capital center as soon as possible. Maybe he has also received the message that the Seventh Prince has left the capital center for Nanjing. news, so in order to return to the center of the capital as soon as possible, he did everything he could...
In the end, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly disappeared while he was under house arrest! "
At the end, even Zhou Shangjing couldn't help but have a weird expression.
Although he was mentally prepared, Zhao Junchen was still shocked again when he heard this!
"Missing? The prince is missing?"
Zhou Shangjing nodded again and said: "It is not appropriate to say that he disappeared, because he also left a letter to Wang Youlun, so that Wang Youlun did not have to panic because of his sudden disappearance. He just wanted to return to the capital in advance to see His Majesty, so Just leave without saying goodbye!
Hey! Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was under house arrest by Wang Youlun during this period, he is the crown prince after all. Wang Youlun's house arrest was just a helpless move, so he never dared to go too far. The supervision during the house arrest was not strict, let alone He didn't dare to be rude to others. It was not difficult for His Royal Highness to get away, but no one expected that he would dare to do this!
However, the sudden disappearance of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was a major event after all, so Wang Youlun immediately blocked the news and sent an eight-hundred-mile horse to report the news to His Majesty. That’s why Junchen, you were unable to receive the information immediately.
Estimating the time and itinerary, His Royal Highness should have entered Henan by now. Moreover, he has hidden his identity and only has a few followers with him. It is difficult to determine his whereabouts, but it should only take another three to five days. Return to the capital! "
When Zhou Shangjing explained to Zhao Junchen, he did not explain where he had received the relevant news in advance. Of course, Zhao Junchen knew what was going on and did not ask further questions. However, if Zhao Junchen had not guessed wrong, he would have informed Zhou Shangjing of the news as soon as possible. The person is Wang Youlun himself - according to Zhao Junchen's inference, although Wang Youlun is openly an enemy of Zhou Shangjing and has a close relationship with the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, in fact it is very likely that he has been secretly subdued by Zhou Shangjing!
Although he had some speculation in his mind, Zhao Junchen did not directly state it. He was just shocked by the information revealed by Zhou Shangjing.
Although Prince Zhu Heyu often does unexpected things, this time's incident was still completely beyond the limits of Zhao Junchen's imagination.
Then, Zhao Junchen frowned and said slowly: "If this is the case, I understand why Your Majesty must let us two leave the capital temporarily this time!
After all, once His Highness the Crown Prince returned to the temple center in advance, and he was responsible for investigating the crimes of various vassals this time, overall his merits outweighed his faults. In addition, His Highness the Seventh Prince is currently stranded in Nanjing and has been unable to return. In the capital, when dealing with the situation in Nanjing, there may still be something to talk about. In addition, the current positions of Zhou Shoufu and the juniors are biased towards His Highness the Crown Prince, and they are always in trouble with His Highness the Seventh Prince... Under such circumstances, the Crown Prince should abolish the throne. Things are likely to change again!
Therefore, His Majesty made a decisive decision and quickly transferred the two of us out of the capital. In this way, even if His Highness the Crown Prince returns to the capital early, he will still be alone and helpless. Naturally, there will be no variables in the abolition of the crown prince! "
Zhou Shangjing nodded lightly, but then shook his head slowly, and said: "But I estimate that reducing the variables of the prince's dethronement is just one of the goals of your majesty's plan. Taking advantage of the period when you and I leave the center of the capital, Time, Your Majesty will not miss the opportunity, and will definitely take the opportunity to expand the imperial power and suppress the power of the ministers. The situation in the entire temple will be affected!
Therefore, before you and I leave Beijing, we must leave some backup and make complete preparations. We must not let His Majesty make too much noise! The governance of a country is about a hundred officials controlling the people on behalf of the emperor. The emperor, officials, and the people are all indispensable. If the imperial power is too great and cannot be suppressed, it will be a recipe for chaos! "
Having said this, a trace of worry finally flashed across Zhou Shangjing's old face.
*
Next, Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing walked and talked. During the conversation, they seemed to have completely abandoned their selfishness and factionalism, and wanted to work together to deal with the changes in the coming period.
Conversations between smart people never need to be long. With Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing's minds and methods, when discussing countermeasures, they all learned from small things and drew inferences. When the two of them walked outside the Forbidden City, they had already agreed on most of them. related countermeasures.
Afterwards, Zhao Junchen naturally expressed his admiration for Zhou Shangjing, then sent Zhou Shangjing to the sedan with a respectful expression, and finally stood there and respectfully sent Zhou Shangjing away in the sedan!
However, as he watched Zhou Shangjing's sedan go away, the obedience and respect in Zhao Junchen's expression gradually faded, his face was covered with ice, and his eyes were particularly sinister.
The next moment, Zhao Junchen whispered coldly: "Zhou Shangjing...he is lying!"
*
The information revealed by Zhou Shangjing to Zhao Junchen—that Prince Zhu Heyu was returning to the center of the capital without authorization—should not be false.
But precisely because the news was not false, Zhao Junchen concluded that Zhou Shangjing must have deliberately concealed a lot of key information from himself this time, trying to mislead his thinking.
The reason why Zhao Junchen made such a judgment was very simple - Zhou Shangjing had no need to disclose this key information to himself!
For Zhou Shangjing himself, it is undoubtedly more advantageous to let Zhao Junchen find out later and keep it in the dark, while he has exclusive access to this information, and then uses the information gap between the two parties to seek various benefits for himself!
Regarding the overall situation of the imperial court, regardless of whether Zhou Shangjing disclosed this information to Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen must fully assist Zhou Shangjing to resist the threat of Emperor Deqing's expansion of imperial power in the face of Emperor Deqing's plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain.
Therefore, there was no need for Zhou Shangjing to reveal this news to Zhao Junchen.
With Zhou Shangjing's scheming wisdom, everything he says and does has profound intentions. He will never do useless things, and he will never be without aim.
Therefore, why Zhou Shangjing deliberately revealed to Zhao Junchen the information about Prince Zhu Heyu's unauthorized return to the capital is worth pondering.
Since meeting Emperor Deqing in the Royal Study Room today, Zhao Junchen always felt that something was wrong with all the things that happened next, but he couldn't figure it out at the beginning.
But after noticing Zhou Shangjing's strange behavior, Zhao Junchen, after deep thought and exploration, came to a conclusion that made his hair stand on end!
That is - after Zhou Shangjing thought that he was old and ineffective, he wanted to remove all important hidden dangers in the court before he left the temple.
The "hidden dangers" in Zhou Shangjing's eyes include not only the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, who has been deliberately targeting him for this period of time, but Zhao Junchen himself is also one of Zhou Shangjing's targets!
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