Imperial Palace, Qingning Palace.
Zhu Youtang came to greet the Queen Mother Zhou. After entering the Qingning Palace, before the Queen Mother Zhou had finished worshiping the Buddha, Zhu Youtang stood at the open window and looked out the window.
"Emperor, have you been waiting for a long time?"
Queen Mother Zhou finally came out.
Zhu Youtang hurried over to salute the Empress Dowager Zhou, and the grandfather and grandson sat down and chatted about home affairs.
"This Qingning Palace is really well built. I have never lived in such a comfortable place. This year's cold winter is all thanks to the water heating arranged by Bingkuan. The Ai family has not been caught by the wind and cold even once. We should let the Qianqing Palace arrange these things in the coming year."
Queen Mother Zhou still cared about her grandson in her words.
She herself enjoyed the convenience and comfort of heating, and knowing that she was the only one in the palace to receive such treatment, she couldn't help but remind her grandson.
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "The imperial grandmother is interested. My grandson has discussed with Bingkuan that if he easily changes the layout of the Qianqing Palace, he is afraid that bad things will happen. So he is going to discuss with the ministers of the DPRK and the left and right of the Qianqing Palace." Repair the Nuan Pavilion. The Dongnuan Pavilion is where the grandson handles court affairs after winter, and the Xinuan Pavilion is where the prince studies in the winter. In this way, the prince is usually by his grandson's side, and the grandson can go there at any time to supervise his studies."
"Very good, very good."
Empress Dowager Zhou did not persuade her grandson to say anything about not carrying out large-scale construction projects.
The emperor's indifference to the layout of the Qing palace reflects the emperor's respect for the ancestral system.
"I am also planning to add some copper pipes for heating in other places in the palace. Bingkuan will be in charge of the details, but we must discuss it with the ministers in advance." Zhu Youtang didn't mean that he only cares about his father and son.
Of course, arrangements must also be made for those queen mothers and concubines. Kunning Palace naturally also needs arrangements.
Empress Dowager Zhou smiled and said: "It is right to discuss everything with the ministers of the DPRK. Don't be like when you trusted Li Guang before. If anything happens, you will be criticized easily."
The old lady is a discerning person.
It can be seen that Zhang Zhou is more far-sighted than Li Guang.
Even if a lot of the construction work in the palace is within a reasonable range, if there is no consent from the ministers of the court and there are some natural or man-made disasters later, some people with ulterior motives or ulterior motives will often go to Zhang Zhou to build the East and West Nuan Pavilion. Contact us on the matter.
"What the imperial grandmother said is absolutely true, and my grandson also has such thoughts." Even if Zhang Zhou didn't mention it himself, Zhu Youtang now paid attention to it.
He could not give those ministers a chance to attack Bingkuan, whom he trusted.
"Recently, Bingkuan also helped me edit the "Huidian". He has almost completed the entire "Huidian" by himself. I am going to bring it to the court tomorrow and mention it to all the ministers. My grandson also wants to Ask Grandma the Queen what she thinks about this matter."
Zhu Youtang was ready to make a statement, and he naturally wanted to hear the opinions of his elders on related matters.
After all, Empress Dowager Zhou had experienced the "Four Dynasties", Yingzong, Daizong, Xianzong and Xiaozong, and had rich experience and knowledge. In addition to showing off Zhang Zhou's achievements to her grandmother, Zhu Youtang also wanted to use Empress Dowager Zhou's experience to help He makes plans.
Empress Dowager Zhou said: "Please tell me in detail."
Then Zhu Youtang told Zhang Zhou about writing a book alone.
…
…
Empress Dowager Zhou had been listening to her grandson, and her eyes were deep, especially when she heard that Zhang Zhou did not immediately claim credit after writing the book, but instead asked Hanlin, the head of the cabinet, to discuss matters such as fine schooling.
After hearing this, although she nodded in agreement with her grandson's statement, she was also thinking about something in her heart.
"Bingkuan served the Ming Dynasty and you, the emperor, can be said to have made the greatest contribution. I didn't expect that he was such a versatile person in both civil and military affairs. He could even compile and compile the "Huidian" and handle things. So organized and measured.”
When Empress Dowager Zhou said these words, she was more lamenting Zhang Zhou's "sleekness and sophistication".
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Even the queen has been telling me recently that Bingkuan was given to me by God and to the Ming Dynasty. The rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty will also depend on him in the future. It is rare for him to uphold the integrity of serving the court wholeheartedly. I should also help him achieve fame."
Empress Dowager Zhou said: "No matter how good you are, you are still a minister."
"yes."
Zhu Youtang understood what the old lady meant.
Don't let Zhang Zhou have the opportunity to take power.
But having said that, once Zhang Zhou gained the emperor's favor and began to make achievements in military and civil affairs, power would naturally gradually come into his hands. Should he need someone else to give it to him?
"Emperor, the Ai family has no objections. Whatever you want to do, please discuss it with those ministers." The Queen Mother Zhou did not intend to interfere in the affairs of the court. "Writing and writing biographies have been the best way for ministers to leave their names in history since ancient times." Way, if Bingkuan has done such a big thing for you, it wouldn’t be inappropriate if he doesn’t get the reward he deserves, so we still have to reward and punish him appropriately.”
"yes."
Zhu Youtang almost wanted to ask, how can we achieve "moderate"?
"Emperor, I haven't seen Bingkuan recently, why don't you let him come over and sit around? Speaking of which, the Ai family is still restless and has a lot of dreams... The Ai family doesn't want to bother you, so why not let him come over? Give me more interpretations of dreams. The Ai family feels a lot more at ease after listening to his interpretation of dreams last time."
When Empress Dowager Zhou said this, a pair of kind-looking eyes looked at her grandson's face with a sharp look.
Zhu Youtang didn't seem to notice that Queen Mother Zhou was observing him, and said with a smile: "Okay, let him come later."
"Um."
Queen Mother Zhou smiled and nodded, "I wonder how the matter between him and the second girl of the Lin family is progressing?"
"It's also being pushed forward, but after all, it's a marriage, and it won't happen too soon. It probably won't happen until June or July. I also asked the Supervisor of Ceremonies to pay attention..."
…
…
Zhu Youtang left Qingning Palace.
Empress Dowager Zhou immediately called Jiang Lu over. Jiang Lu had been standing at the door before, and the conversation between his ancestors and grandson had clearly fallen into his ears.
"Get someone to go out and say hello to the two unsatisfactory brothers of the Ai family, and tell them that the previous matter can be pushed forward." Queen Mother Zhou said.
Jiang Lu was surprised and said: "It's the Huanyi Bureau..."
"Talk too much!" Queen Mother Zhou scolded.
Jiang Lu looked around to make sure that no one was approaching, and then he leaned over and asked, "Your Majesty seemed to have been aware of this matter before, and even asked the supervisor to ask about it, but the Empress did not." No movement.”
Empress Dowager Zhou said: "Times have changed, and the emperor should have some affection. The Ai family can see that the emperor's mood has changed."
"this……"
Jiang Lu looked confused.
I have also listened to the emperor's words. Why didn't I hear the change in the emperor's attitude towards the concubine like you did?
"In the past, if the Aijia had asked Bingkuan to interpret dreams, the emperor would have been suspicious or wary... The emperor was still too easy-going and did not know how to hide his inner emotions. The Aijia had watched him since childhood. As you grow up, you can tell what he is thinking at a glance." Empress Dowager Zhou made a rough analysis, "But when it was mentioned again this time, he readily agreed. He didn't seem to notice it himself, because in his heart, he had a vague feeling that he wanted to open up. There are scattered branches and leaves, and you cannot count on the Queen alone.”
Jiang Lu was surprised and said: "Your Majesty... really have such thoughts?"
"What? You don't believe in the Ai family's judgment?" Queen Mother Zhou asked coldly.
"I don't dare." Jiang Lu quickly lowered his head.
The reason why Jiang Lu was surprised was because he was a eunuch, and his duties as a eunuch were only false. He was a chamberlain eunuch, and what he cared about most was actually the division of factions in the palace.
As a confidant of Empress Dowager Zhou, his good days will come to an end once Empress Dowager Zhou dies.
Even if Queen Zhang doesn't deal with him, under the shadow of Queen Zhang, the leader of the Sixth Palace, it will be difficult for him to make any achievements in the eunuch profession. This is because everyone who cares knows that he will not please Queen Zhang, and no one is willing to give him anything. He has a chance.
Only when a "concubine" appears in the palace who can compete with Queen Zhang and the power structure in the palace is broken, then Jiang Lu will have the opportunity to "make a comeback."
Because he once belonged to the Empress Dowager Zhou, if this new concubine was supported by the Empress Dowager Zhou, then even if the Empress Dowager Zhou dies, he will become the new concubine's think tank and gain the greatest trust.
"The Ai family doesn't know why the emperor changed like this. I think Bingkuan played an irreplaceable role in it, but I don't know why. From the emperor's words, it seems that even the queen has put aside her prejudice against him! Others don't know what Bingkuan is thinking. How could the Ai family not know his thoughts? For someone who can even let go of his enemies’ prejudices against him, his methods are really extraordinary.”
Empress Dowager Zhou was aware of Zhang Zhou's hostility towards Zhang's relatives.
But now Zhang Zhou actually made peace with Queen Zhang?
Queen Mother Zhou does not think that Zhang Zhou has no sense of crisis... To coax Mrs. Zhang, aren't you, Zhang Zhou, following in the footsteps of Li Guang? You are paralyzing the enemy and preparing to give him a fatal blow!
Others won't help you, how can I not help you?
When it comes to confronting Zhang's relatives, I am the only old man who is on the same page as you.
…
…
The next morning, we went to Fengtian Palace.
Zhu Youtang announced in public that the "Da Ming Huidian" was about to be written, and the Hanlin Academy began to complete the final proofreading.
As soon as these words came out, all the ministers in the court were shocked.
The most surprising ones are those who have participated in the compilation of the book, or those who know the progress of the compilation... The compilation progress of "Da Ming Huidian" is not a secret to the court ministers. If this book It is about to reach the final stage of publication, so it is impossible for the news to spread only now.
As for why this happens...
The ministers present were full of questions.
Observing the reactions of the three cabinet ministers and Hanlin scholar Wang Hao, they felt that they might have overthought it. Maybe they suddenly accelerated the progress, or wanted to give the world a "surprise"?
"I am still responsible for the final revision of the proofreading, with the chief editor, Mr. Liu Ge, and his colleagues. I wonder if Mr. Liu Ge can choose someone to actually supervise this matter?"
Zhu Youtang directly asked Liu Jian who would be the executive editor in front of all the ministers present.
Liu Jian knew very well why the emperor came to ask him, just to use his words to mention Zhang Zhou's name... Apart from him, anyone else, even the emperor, would not achieve that effect.
"The veteran believes that Hanlin Minister Zhang Zhou contributed a lot to the compilation of "Huidian", and his talent is enough to be responsible for the revision. I ask him to take the lead and cooperate with all the officials in the Hanyuan to work until the seventh year. Complete the review before the month."
Liu Jian could not go against the emperor's wishes.
It seems that the officials who came from the Hanlin Academy suffered a loss, but completing the "Da Ming Huidian" ahead of schedule was a good thing that everyone was happy about, especially Zhang Zhou who gave up the credit, and everyone shared the credit.
No matter how stubborn you Liu Jian is, you can't ignore the overall situation, right?
Zhu Youtang nodded and said: "I think Zhang Qing's family is also very suitable for this matter! Zhang Zhou!"
"I'm here."
Zhang Zhou was among them, and then Zhang Zhou walked out of the east class.
Many Wu Xun were also looking sideways at Zhang Zhou.
They are also thinking...isn't this Zhang Banxian from our Wuxun faction?
Why did you change your face and go to help the civil servants repair books or the "Da Ming Huidian"? Even Liu Jian recommended him in front of the emperor and asked him to be the executive editor to revise books? Doesn't this mean that the credit for repairing books should be given to this boy?
The methods used by civil servants to win over this kid...are simply more "cruel" than ours.
Zhu Youtang said: "What difficulties does Zhang Qing's family have in revising the Huidian?"
Zhang Zhou said: "I know that I can't complete it on my own, so I asked Cheng, a former Hanlin scholar, to come to the pavilion to help compile this classic. I also asked Guozijian Lin Jiejiu and others to help with this matter. The remaining manpower... I don't know how to allocate. Everything should be coordinated by Liu Ge Lao and Wang Xueshi. I will only do the correction."
"good."
Zhu Youtang readily accepted Zhang Zhou's argument that he did not take credit.
The ministers present, regardless of whether they were civil or military, except for a few who knew the inside story, were all curious about why such an important task as compiling the "Da Ming Huidian" would actually fall on Zhang Zhou?
And what is Zhang Zhou's explanation for recommending Cheng Minzheng and Lin Han to participate in this matter?
Why didn't Wang Hao, the scholar in charge of the Hanlin Academy, and the three cabinet ministers come out to raise objections?
…
…
When something goes wrong, there must be a monster.
Liu Ke Shizhong obviously had opinions on this matter, but the first one to speak out was Min Gui, the censor of Zuodu.
"Your Majesty." Min Gui came out and questioned, "The compilation of "Huidian" embodies the efforts of scribes from all dynasties of the Ming Dynasty. Although it was compiled in less than three years, the preparation time was more than 20 years in advance. If Zhang Hanlin served as a lecturer, How can Zhou Xing take care of the textual research and writing when he is editing? Your Majesty, please think twice and appoint another person to be responsible for coordinating and editing."
Min Gui did not directly start with Zhang Zhou's knowledge, his qualifications, or the emperor's trust.
Probably now the civil servants have also realized that if they want to prevent Zhang Zhou's rise, they must come up with some practical "means" instead of just talking nonsense.
Just say that Zhang Zhou came late and didn't know the progress of the book revision. This should have persuaded the emperor to take back his orders.
But the problem is...
What you, Min Gui, can think of, Liu Jian and the others can't think of? Since Liu Jian recommended Zhang Zhou, you, Min Gui, have never thought about why?
There are still many discerning people present who can see the crux of the problem.
Zhu Youtang pointed at Wang Hao and said, "Scholar Wang, please tell me."
The emperor feels that it is meaningless to convince these ministers by himself. He always talks about the same clichés and why I use Bingkuan, but you think that I just listen and believe.
But if Zhang Zhou hadn't compiled the "Huidian" himself, I would never have asked him to take charge of this matter, and the chief minister and others in the cabinet wouldn't have agreed, right?
No brains?
After all, Zhu Youtang had the "God's Perspective", so he naturally knew why Zhang Zhou was used, but most of the people present were players in the game, and they were confused and had no idea what the emperor and Liu Jian were doing.
Wang Hao said: "Previously, Shijiao Zhang contributed a lot to the revision of the Classics. He should be responsible for the revision."
Don’t say too much.
Wang Hao also feels that there is no need to hide anything. Zhang Zhou’s contribution is great, and now he has been appointed as the executive editor. You should also know that this matter cannot be changed.
Min Gui had a headache after hearing this.
Liu Jian said that Zhang Zhou contributed a lot. You, Wang Hao, also said that he contributed a lot? Even if it is really big, as long as you don't recognize him and you say his contribution is small, he will definitely contribute little!
This is true for someone who is both a chief minister and a Hanlin scholar. Don’t you understand?
This is called controlling public opinion, and it is also called the right of literati to speak.
Why are you so powerless when the right to speak falls into the hands of you guys?
"The matter is settled like this." Zhu Youtang didn't bother to argue, "The school inspection will be officially started today. The Imperial Academy and everyone in the Hanlin Academy have put aside their recent rest and other matters. Except for the prince's schoolwork, he will not return from the Imperial Academy. Allocate manpower and send another person to Nanjing to transfer Zhang Yuanzhen, who is in charge of the Hanlin Academy, to Beijing to coordinate! That’s it!”
…
…
The meeting ended.
As soon as the ministers left the Fengtian Palace, they almost all surrounded the cabinet and the people from the Hanlin Academy.
Tu Yan said with a smile: "Mr. Liu Ge, I really want to say congratulations. It has only been two years since the compilation of "Huidian" has reached the stage of being edited and completed as a book? This kind of thing is really a blessing for the Ming Dynasty... But I don’t know why there was no news at all before?”
Liu Jian looked calm.
But Wang Hao looked ashamed.
We have been working on it for two years, but the progress is still very slow. In the end, Zhang Zhou finished the book by himself, and then announced that he would speed up the progress and complete the book soon.
The problem is... there are really not many parts that can be changed, otherwise Liang Chu would know where there is something worthy of discussion after taking a look at it.
The three executive editors before and after, except for Yang Tinghe who returned to his hometown, Cheng Minzheng and Liang Chu found no fault at all... Who should be credited with this credit?
"Let's wait until the book is written."
Xie Qian was still thick-skinned, so he responded at this time.
Among the ministers watching around, there were also many martial artists, and they were also very strange.
It's obviously a great thing to "celebrate the whole world", but why are these three people in the cabinet and Wang Hao acting like their dead mothers?
Min Gui walked over and asked, "Can you tell me why Zhang Bingkuan is the one responsible for coordinating the book repair? Is there no one capable of doing so in the Ming Dynasty?"
"Okay, don't ask any more questions!"
Xie Qian walked over and gave Min Gui a hand.
But before Min Gui could be pulled out even two steps, General Secretary Yuan Shouzhi jumped out and asked, "Zhang Bingkuan, come out!"
Zhang Zhou had already walked a few steps at this time, and the discussion here seemed to have nothing to do with him.
Hearing this, he didn't need to be shy. He walked over with a smile and said, "Yuanyintai, are you okay?"
Yuan Shouzhi said: "Do you know what you are doing?"
Zhang Zhou shrugged and said: "I'm a very vulgar person. I don't know what to say. It's like what the people say, a big head wears a big hat. If you think my head is too small, it doesn't deserve such a big hat... I also ask you to go and inform His Majesty and entrust this errand to others."
"Save it, too!" Xie Qian shouted to Zhang Zhou, and then said to the people present, "Everyone, the overall planning with Bingkuan is the result of your Majesty's careful consideration with the Ministry of Cabinet and Hanyuan. The matter of repairing books is yours. It doesn’t matter. As for how to compile it, don’t worry about it!”
(End of chapter)
