The meeting ended in a strange atmosphere.
Yushi Yanguan felt that he had not exerted enough force. He had prepared carefully for a long time, but was "hindered" by Zhang Mao and Wu Hao at the critical moment. The emperor seemed to be punishing Zhang Zhou, but he was clearly playing a double act.
Is the emperor willing to punish Bingkuan, who he misses so much?
Do not make jokes! None of us civil servants believe this nonsense.
The morning has just ended here.
After leaving Fengtian Hall, a group of people surrounded Wu Hao.
"Qin Tian had predicted that there would be a disaster. Why didn't he inform his officials, but only informed the British Duke?" Tu Feng looked very excited, because on the surface, he was the one who initiated the impeachment of Zhang Zhou. More equivalent to the leader of this matter.
Liu Jian and others did not compete with him for the position of leader. Part of the reason was that Tu Jian was about to retire and was a "dead pig is not afraid of boiling water" type, and Liu Jian and others did not say that they would leave the court. You still have to deal with the emperor.
Wu Hao said: "Everyone, it's not that I don't want to say it, but it's because I was short on time when I calculated it. Besides, if I tell you, will you believe it?"
Wu Hao was also aggrieved.
He didn't dare to say it. In fact, it was not me who planned this matter, but Zhang Bingkuan told me. Anyway, I am being used as a weapon now.
I don’t care if it’s accurate or not, I just love it.
"If you don't tell me, how will you know whether others agree? Now you have to accuse people of a disaster that has not happened. Isn't this... nonsense?" Tu Yu was very annoyed.
If it weren't for the fact that this was in the palace, maybe he would have wanted to go up and tear Wu Hao apart.
Xie Qian walked over and said, "Calm down, everyone, Your Majesty didn't say anything about this. Let's talk about it later. Let's go, let's go!"
As he spoke, he glanced over at Zhang Zhou.
But I saw that Zhang Zhou came out with Zhang Mao... Beside Zhang Mao, there was Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites who was about to retire but was not involved in this matter.
This seemed to indicate to the ministers present that Zhang Mao was actually just a young man, and he had always stood with Zhang Zhou.
"British Lord!" Fu Han, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, had always had objections to Zhang Mao from far away and wanted to go up and question him.
Fu Han was so excited. He said it was for official reasons and to maintain order in the court, but in fact it was more because Lin Han was about to be promoted to Minister of Rites and his position was taken away.
Zhang Mao came over and said with a smile: "I just discuss the matter as it is. Although Mr. Lai Guo is often unruly in his actions, he still has to participate in the impeachment in accordance with normal rules. This is what the ministers of the DPRK should do, and I have not made any decisions on my own."
Zhang Zhouben was walking with Zhang Mao. After hearing this, he strode forward.
Xu Qiong, Shen Lu and others did not shy away from walking with Zhang Zhou.
It seems that a party has formed over there.
Li Dongyang said: "Mr. British, are you participating in the impeachment of Zhang Bingkuan? Why do people think that you are trying to play both sides?"
"Really?" Zhang Mao sighed, "As Wu Jianzheng said, he mentioned that there will be disasters in the future. You cannot listen to such things, and you will not use such things to impeach him. Then The old man believed this and mentioned it in the court. You have also seen His Majesty's reaction. If the hailstorm really comes in a few days, wouldn't it be in line with your wishes, and the Zhang family boys can go back to their hometowns without work? "
Fu Han said: "This is the truth, but predicting the hailstorm in a few days, and even relying on such disasters to get Zhang Bingkuan to become an official, do you think it is possible?"
Zhang Mao said helplessly: "Just say you don't believe it. Look... how genuine his reaction is? How come you don't want to believe Wu Jianzheng even once?"
Wu Hao was listening next to him, which felt aggrieved.
He actually heard that no one, including Zhang Mao, seemed to think what he said was reliable.
Did Zhang Mao attack Zhang Zhou because he believed it?
Old Man Zhang was clearly looking for a way out for himself... While following the trend and having to impeach Zhang Zhou, he still wanted to find a way out for himself... Wu Hao also understood why the emperor and Zhang Zhou asked him to tell him about the hail disaster. Zhang Mao, because of Zhang Mao's character of an old fox who sits on the fence, used unreliable predictions of hail disaster to impeach Zhang Zhou.
It seems that Zhang Mao is siding with the traditional ministers to impeach Zhang Zhou, and at the same time he can have a fight with Zhang Zhou... Look, I am helping you. As long as the hailstorm does not come in a few days, your Majesty will not Is there no reason to dismiss you from office? I, Old Man Zhang, am here to help you!
Li Dongyang said: "It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not now. The hailstorm on Wuzi Day will not affect the impeachment of Zhang Bingkuan in the future. Your Majesty has no objection to this, so just wait."
With Li Dongyang maintaining order, everyone was outraged and disbanded on the spot.
Many people were still chattering on the way out of the palace, talking about how to impeach Zhang Zhou and convict Zhang Zhou.
…
…
Cabinet value.
After the three cabinet members returned, even the Zhongshushe people who came to deliver the memorial were not allowed in. Liu Jian immediately convened a meeting of the highest decision-making level of the Ming Dynasty's civil servants.
"Bin Zhi, do you think that His Majesty's delay today is meaningless and that the impeachment meeting in a few days will go as smoothly as today? Or do you think that Your Majesty intends to delay this matter until a few days in order to divide and disintegrate the people who signed the petition?" Liu Jian seemed inferior to Li Dongyang in terms of resourcefulness, and he was more willing to listen to Li Dongyang's opinions.
Li Dongyang said: "I always feel that things are not that simple."
Xie Qian laughed and said, "How do you say this?"
Li Dongyang frowned and said: "Qintian Supervisor Wu Hao has been quite satisfactory in the past two years. Now when it comes to such a big matter as the impeachment of Zhang Bingkuan, he dares to take the lead and directly predicts that there will be a hailstorm in the capital in four days. This is not like him. Things that can be done.”
"Haha." Xie Qian said with a smile, "This kind of thing didn't come from him, could it be Zhang Bingkuan? Zhang Bingkuan wouldn't use disasters and strange things to impeach himself, would he?"
Li Dongyang thought silently for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I can't explain. I just feel weird."
Liu Jiandao: "But now it's Zhang Tingmian who listened to Qin Tianjian's warning and took this action to impeach Zhang Bingkuan. Will there be any explanation for this?"
Just as Li Dongyang was about to say something, Xie Qian interjected: "Stop guessing and just go and ask the Qintian Prisoner directly, wouldn't you?"
"You can't tell the result." Li Dongyang said, "If Qin Tian Jian dares to talk about the disaster, he should think about the consequences behind it. If the things are not fulfilled, His Majesty will attack Qin Tian Jian first. In fact, I am thinking, if Wu Hao is not absolutely sure, so he shouldn't wade into troubled waters with such uncertainties, or because he has no choice but to do it."
Liu Jian asked: "What do you think the reason is?"
Li Dongyang said seriously: "It's hard to disobey the emperor's order."
Liu Jian took a breath and said: "You are saying that the hailstorm a few days later is a fiction. His Majesty asked Qin Tianjian to report it like this, and also found Zhang Tingmian, who always likes to fish in troubled waters, to confuse the public. ? In fact, His Majesty’s real intention is to give a few days of delay to divide and disintegrate the people who signed the petition?”
Li Dongyang said: "It's not impossible. But I have a vague feeling that things are not that simple."
Xie Qian asked: "How complicated can it be?"
This time even Li Dongyang remained silent.
After all, Li Dongyang had political foresight and resourcefulness. He felt that Wu Hao's actions were very abnormal, but Zhang Mao's actions did not exceed their expectations.
From what they knew, Old Man Zhang really liked to exploit every opportunity. This time, when Zhang Mao was actually willing to come with traditional civil servants to impeach Zhang Zhou, they felt that Zhang Mao might be up to something behind his back... but the ghost did come. Although they were still trying to impeach Zhang Zhou, they changed their tactics and made excuses for disasters. They clearly had the intention of delaying and exonerating Zhang Zhou.
"Yu Qiao." Liu Jian said, "Go to the Qintian Prison later and ask clearly. The matter of joint participation in the impeachment still cannot be stopped. The matter has already begun, and there is no reason to avoid it. Even if we wait for another four or five days, we will wait until after Wuzi Day. When old things are brought up again, the momentum cannot be weaker than today."
Li Dongyang said: "I think now we should be more prepared to prevent your Majesty's internal officials from contacting foreign ministers."
Liu Jian looked at Li Dongyang and said: "Bin Zhi, you should know that internal officials were involved in this matter. In fact, the whole government is united. We are afraid that Zhang Bingkuan will use His Majesty's trust to create a gap in our monolithic structure. A warning of a disaster is not a gap, it is just a time to fill the gap... We have to fill the vacancies everywhere, which requires all parties to be firm in will, especially we cannot deviate!"
"Yeah." Li Dongyang nodded.
Among the three, it seems that he, Li Dongyang, is the steadfast one, but he also seems to be the weak link.
…
…
As the planner of the incident, Zhang Zhou did not mention the hail disaster warning when talking to Xu Qiong and Shen Lu on the way out of the palace.
"It's nonsense and unbelievable. However, after a few days, the disaster has not come. They will still take the natural and man-made disasters of the Ming Dynasty in the past few years and force them to be blamed on you, Duke Lai. Duke Lai must be prepared." Okay." Shen Lu reminded with a smile.
Shen Lu and Xu Qiong are still relatively calm now.
They could see the emperor's trust in Zhang Zhou. On that day, hundreds of officials came to impeach Zhang Zhou. Originally, the two of them seemed to be alone and could not help much.
However, Wu Hao and Zhang Maosheng still opened up a "situation" and postponed the impeachment matter for four days.
Of course, they don't think the so-called hail disaster can be realized.
Wu Hao can predict this kind of disaster, it is no different from a sow climbing a tree, believe him!
Zhang Zhou sighed: "Wu Jianzheng's words are so conclusive that even the British Duke has listened to him. I don't think things will go wrong. No matter what I think about at that time, your Majesty will have no choice but to send me away." Go back to farming.”
Shen Lu asked in surprise: "Then Duke Lai Guo didn't personally calculate whether there would be a hailstorm that day?"
"How do you calculate this?" Xu Qiong glanced at Shen Lu in the aside.
You Shen Lu, the more you talk, the more excited you become.
Talking about disasters and miraculous events is just an excuse to use the topic. You don’t really think that every future event can be warned in advance, do you? We stand with Zhang Bingkuan not because he is a prophet, but because of the emperor's trust in him and because he is alone in the court. He is in a similar situation to us and our party members will need his support in the future. Get a foothold.
Zhang Zhou said: "Xu Butang, actually I am quite capable in this regard, and I have calculated on my fingers that severe and abnormal weather may indeed occur in the capital in the next few days. Even if a hailstorm comes, I won't be surprised."
"What?" Xu Qiong frowned.
Shen Lu is more energetic, I think it is you Zhang Bingkuan who is more energetic.
Shen Lu laughed and said: "This Ming Dynasty Hall is very interesting. When it comes to the magic spell? You will sing and I will come on stage? Hahaha..."
"Still laughing!" Xu Qiong rolled her eyes at Shen Lu again.
Zhang Zhou said: "Actually, it doesn't matter. It wouldn't be a bad idea if I could go back to my hometown without work and live a peaceful life for a few years."
Xu Qiong said coldly: "Mr. Lai Guo, we support you, especially because we value your ability to make contributions to the Ming Dynasty in the future and to support the country and help His Majesty achieve great achievements. You can't give up at a critical moment."
Zhang Zhou nodded and said: "Of course I also want to serve the imperial court well, but I am afraid that God will not fulfill my wish."
"I will be walking around the DPRK for you in the next few days." Xu Qiong said, "Bingkuan, who do you think may be the weak link in the DPRK now? Is it the British Duke? The Cabinet, or the Six Ministries? You can be more accurate. Let me tell you."
Xu Qiong is quite interesting now.
Since he wanted an alliance, in order to show sincerity, he had to do something. The way he did it was to be a lobbyist and break up the "alliance to defeat Zhang" who participated in the impeachment of Zhang Zhou.
Zhang Zhou said: "If I had to choose, I think Mr. Li Ge might be interested in me."
"Bin Zhi? Don't think about it! He has always been prejudiced against you." Xu Qiong said.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "But I think, since I treated his son before and saved him from marrying the Kong family, he will not regard me as an enemy, right? Besides, I have never offended him directly before."
Xu Qiong looked unhappy. He felt that Zhang Zhou wouldn't "bribe" Li Dongyang for a "small favor", right?
Li Dongyang is more principled!
"Then I'll try later." Xu Qiong agreed, but didn't take it seriously.
Zhang Zhou didn't think it was a small favor that held Li Dongyang down, but more because... this was "historical experience."
The biggest experience comes from what has not happened yet, that is, in the "Eight Tigers Movement" a few years later in history, Liu Jian and Xie Qian became the victims with their heads ironed, while Li Dongyang actually managed to survive by turning around and other leeway. He had been fighting with Liu Jinxu for several years, and managed to get through Liu Jin's hiccups, but it was not Li Dongyang who really killed Liu Jin. During the years when Liu Jin was in power, Li Dongyang, as the first and assistant minister, completely followed Liu Jin's lead...
Li Dongyang just looked tough.
The more resourceful a person is, the more he understands the principle of "a man can bend and stretch".
It is easy to just give up the choice, but it is difficult to endure the humiliation and bear the burden.
Of course, in history, whether Li Dongyang endured humiliation and endured the heavy burden, or whether he was greedy for fame and gain and ignored justice... Only he, Li Dongyang, knows.
…
…
Zhang Zhou left the palace gate and was quickly stopped by Lin Han.
"Servant Lin." Zhang Zhou walked over and saluted Lin Han.
Lin Han also returned the courtesy, and then Lin Han greeted Zhang Zhou to get on his carriage.
"Bingkuan, what's going on today? Is Your Majesty punishing you? Or has it been discussed with you a long time ago?" Lin Han's characteristic is that he can't hide things in his heart.
He saw something that was puzzling to him, and he could still talk to Zhang Zhou, so he couldn't help but ask questions.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "It has been discussed long ago."
"It's true." Lin Han said, "The Qintian Prison is trying to impeach you with disaster..."
"Isn't he a British prince?" Zhang Zhou asked.
Lin Han said with a dark face: "It's all the same."
Zhang Zhou said: "Oh, if it was the British Councilor who impeached me, there would be no discussion. However, I was the one who told Wu Hao about the hailstorm a few days later."
"you!"
The true energy in Lin Han's body surged, almost knocking over the roof of the carriage.
"Secretary Lin, please be patient. There is a reason why I did this." Zhang Zhou said.
Lin Han said anxiously: "Do you know what this means? It would be fine if you just use this to delay it for a few days, but do you know that using this kind of thing to tease the officials in the government and the public..."
"I'm not teasing them. I really calculated that there will be a rain and hail disaster in the capital in four days. This is to allow the people of the capital to take precautions in advance and reduce losses." Zhang Zhou seemed to be righteous.
Lin Han said: "Are you trying to impeach yourself?"
Zhang Zhou shook his head: "Even if I didn't mention it, the hailstorm will still come in four days, and they will still use this matter to impeach me. The difference will not be big."
Lin Han thought for a moment and realized that it was just as Zhang Zhou said. Whether there was a warning or not was not the point. The point was that if there was a hailstorm, the ministers would blame the emperor for favoring Zhang Zhou. Zhang Zhou was destined to take the blame. of.
"Then what do you think?" Lin Han asked.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "I mentioned to your majesty that I want to go back to Jiangnan to marry, not in the capital, so that if any disaster happens in the capital in the future, I won't be blamed."
Lin Han said angrily: "I have lived in the capital for so long. How many disasters have there been in the capital? You have returned home because of the disaster. Even if you live in the capital in the future, can this disaster still be related to you?"
Zhang Zhou said: "That's impossible to say. As long as I am alive, no matter where I am, any disaster will be blamed on me. Isn't this the consistent style of officials in the DPRK?"
Lin Han was quite speechless.
But he had nothing to say in reply.
Because this time the ministers jointly participated in the impeachment of Zhang Zhou, didn't they just blame Zhang Zhou for the natural and man-made disasters in various places in the past few years?
It seems...Zhang Zhou still understands the urine nature of this group of people.
Zhang Zhou sighed: "Only if I leave the officialdom, even leave the capital, and return to Nanjing to be an idler, can I avoid being blamed for any disaster in the capital."
"It seems that you think there will be disasters in the capital in the future?" Lin Han frowned.
"hehe."
Zhang Zhou smiled but didn't answer.
What is hailstorm?
It is a bit far-fetched to say that this kind of violent and abnormal weather is a warning from the sky or a catastrophe.
After all, severe weather like this happens everywhere every year.
But the earthquake... Or the earthquake in the capital... If he really had such a shit basin on his head, then he would basically be thrown into the eighteenth level of hell by those superstitious people.
So Zhang Zhou wanted to do the opposite.
When there was an earthquake in the capital, I was not in the officialdom and I was not in the capital, so I asked you why you put this shit basin on my head?
More importantly... I warned the emperor about this earthquake in advance. The emperor knew that this earthquake had nothing to do with any kind of natural disaster... but the emperor took the initiative to help me prevent it by using a disaster...
This is the highest level of disaster talk.
(End of chapter)
