An inner court meeting is itself a performance stage for the cabinet.
But even if the Shangting Department did not participate in the discussion, it did not mean that they were not qualified. It was just that because Zhang Zhou was absent, no one was willing to confront the cabinet.
When several people came out of Qianqing Palace and walked outside the palace, Xie Qian deliberately mentioned it in front of several people: "Even if your Majesty didn't say it, how can there be no cabinet matters outside of the six ministries? Now it is the time for the new and old When there is a change, the cabinet is no exception!”
Zhang Mao smiled and asked: "Yu Qiao, do you mean to give up your position?"
Xie Qian said: "It should be mentioned. It depends on your Majesty's decision. However, with this round of changes, except for the promotion of a former right minister of the Ministry of Rites to the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel, it seems that everything in the Imperial Academy is relatively calm. Could it be that this change has nothing to do with Hanyuan colleagues?"
"I don't know."
Zhang Mao laughed.
He himself also knew that the so-called members of the Shangting Department were just a cover.
Who would really listen to Wu Xun?
Ma Wensheng said: "The three cabinet ministers are highly respected and respected. Now we can't do without anyone. But we, the ignorant ministers, should gradually step back. However, the three of them work hard, so it is not impossible to increase the number of ministers in the cabinet appropriately."
In fact, these words are more likely to be said to Lin Han.
It was also as if he was trying to explain to everyone the meaning of what Xie Qian had said before. In fact, Xie Qian was not taking the initiative to give up his throne. It was more like he was speculating on whether the emperor had added cabinet ministers and had any intention of changing officials in the Hanlin Academy system.
Lin Han seemed very calm about this. He knew that he, the Minister of Rites, was also controversial, and others would not be too convinced by him, just like the previous court officials were not convinced by Xu Qiong.
Zhang Mao pretended to be confused and jokingly said with a smile: "Now that Duke Lai Guo is no longer a bachelor, there is no need to worry about him joining the cabinet. Otherwise, he can not only make suggestions to His Majesty, but also be a high-ranking official." He is indispensable for being able to run an army...it is not the duty of a minister to act arbitrarily."
Xie Qian said: "One day is a Hanlin, and a lifetime is a Hanlin. Even if His Majesty wants him to join the cabinet, isn't it reasonable?"
"That's it, Yu Qiao." Li Dongyang interrupted Xie Qian, "I've been delayed a lot today, so I'd better go back early to deal with the affairs of various yamen. Regarding personnel appointments, we should always wait until after the meeting. Don't talk about it here for no reason. I feel emotional.”
Xie Qian smiled and said: "Yes, we are all unfounded. Only he, Zhang Bingkuan, can be said to be the winner. This court will be in chaos from now on."
This is more like a feeling after losing the fight with Zhang Zhou.
It was also because Tu Jing was not here.
Otherwise, Xie Qianfei would question him properly.
I said before that I didn't want to fight, but I had to fight, but the emperor and Zhang Zhou worked together to suppress the matter of participating in the impeachment. So far, the disaster has not been able to criticize Zhang Zhou, but it can't be said that there will be no chance in the future, but I want to take Zhang Zhou. How could it be so easy for Zhou Dangzhao to lose his attack?
Nowadays, the emperor and his ministers are at odds, and the emperor has begun to make deals with ministers when making appointments to officials at the ministerial level. This is no longer the case in the past when civil servants could arbitrarily determine the direction of the court.
You old ministers, if you fail to participate in the impeachment, you just pat your butts and leave. In the future, those of us who stay in the court will bear the consequences of the failure of the struggle?
…
…
After the three cabinet members separated from the rest.
Li Dongyang reminded: "Yu Qiao, you know that there is no need to express your emotions in front of outsiders, but you still said that before. What do you mean?"
Xie Qian said: "I just want to tell them that if anything happens in the future, they can count on the cabinet to take care of it."
Li Dongyang shook his head and said: "Why do I feel that you seem to be discouraged and want to withdraw from the court and never ask about court affairs?"
"Haha." Xie Qian just smiled and did not answer directly.
The reason why Xie Qian complained was because he felt that he had been cheated. Once he had the thought of slacking off, he didn't want to suffer from that cowardice anymore.
Liu Jian asked: "Have you recently seen the memorials from Nanjing's garrison ministers, lieutenants and the Nanjing Military Department?"
"I have never seen it before." Li Dongyang turned around and said, "The Minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing transferred the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. The various yamen in Nanjing should be calm at this moment. After all, Zhang Bingkuan has not arrived yet... Could it be that he thinks that Zhang Bingkuan will have something in Nanjing? As?"
Liu Jiandao: "If His Majesty temporarily appoints him as the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing for transition, there is no need to think too much. But if he is to stay in Nanjing until the end of the year, do you dare to say that Your Majesty has not assigned him another job?"
Li Dongyang fell into deep thought.
This was also what Liu Jian gained from this inner court meeting.
Zhang Zhou did not return to the capital for a while. It seemed that the emperor wanted Zhang Zhou to temporarily avoid the disputes in the court and let Zhang Zhou hide his power and bide his time. After a few months, he would be transferred back to the capital to take up a position such as Minister of War.
But the emperor is obviously not in a hurry, and it seems that Zhang Zhou's tenure as Minister of War in Nanjing is a lasting thing. Then we have to consider what Zhang Zhou, a minister who has won the emperor's trust, can bring to the emperor in Nanjing, and even let him The emperor was not in a hurry to transfer him back.
"You can't let him go to the southwest to quell the rebellion, right?" Xie Qian made a strange sound from the corner of his mouth and said coldly.
"It doesn't seem like it." Li Dongyang said, "But what will happen in Nanjing?"
Liu Jian couldn't answer either.
As the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing had a court team, but most of the time they were just nobles who were waiting to die. Even if the Minister of War in Nanjing was involved in the regulation of military power in Southern Zhili, it is not necessarily that Zhang Zhou went to the south for Soldiers.
Xie Qian said: "I heard that the so-called governor of the Bohai Sea seems to have also gone south."
"What are you going to do?" Li Dongyang obviously didn't know about this.
Xie Qian shook his head and said: "This job was temporarily assigned by His Majesty. The duty is to build ships in Jinghai, but I haven't heard of serious banditry happening along the southeast coast. First it's the northwest, then Liaodong and North Korea, and now it's the southeast. , you Li Binzhi can understand it, but I can’t understand it either, so don’t ask me.”
It wasn't that Xie Qian didn't understand, but he didn't want to delve too deeply into it, so he just told Li Dongyang what he knew.
It is left to Li Dongyang and Liu Jian to analyze by themselves.
And he himself...as Li Dongyang said, he was indeed a little frustrated, and felt that being a cabinet minister in the court was a bit meaningless.
There are Liu Jian and Li Dongyang pressing on top, and Zhang Zhou's forces are squeezing beside him. A group of pig teammates seem to be fighting Zhang Zhou, but they ignore the biggest issue of holy will. They always want to dig holes for Zhang Zhou when things cannot be done. Buried... Civil servants have changed from being steady and steady to being a breakaway group, and have even become irrational.
…
…
As Zhu Houzhao and his party entered the ground in Shandong, they had been away from Beijing for six days.
Zhu Houzhao had a lot of fun along the way, but it was a bit torturous for Liu Jin, Qiu Ju, Gao Feng and Ma Yongcheng. They were thinking of waiting for the Jinyiwei to chase them back, but in the end they entered the Shandong ground and even pursued them. They couldn't even see it, let alone what the local government did.
Because the news of the prince’s disappearance has not been announced to the public...
It made them feel as if they were following a fake prince, because Zhu Houzhao seemed to have been forgotten by the emperor.
After the ship docked that afternoon, Zhu Houzhao arranged for Gao Feng to hire a car, because he wanted to go to Qufu with Sun Che and the others to visit Xuansheng Temple. This was also a way for Zhu Houzhao to ask his pursuers, that is, a car. Change trains and don't play cards according to the same routine. In this way, even if the pursuers find the clue of the ship, they will lose it if they follow the line.
"Eunuch Gao, should we discuss this? This is not an option."
Ma Yongcheng's status in the East Palace itself is not as good as Gao Feng.
Gao Feng is the oldest in Dongchang, nearly sixty years old, and is regarded as the mature and prudent one.
Qiu Ju and Liu Jin could count on the prince to protect them, but Ma Yongchen himself had military exploits, and he did not want to ruin his "official career" or even lose his life by accompanying the prince south.
Gao Feng said: "What can I do? Wherever the prince is going, can you stop him?"
Ma Yongcheng looked back to make sure that Liu Jin and Qiu Ju had not followed him, and then he said: "Those two just want to play around with the prince, but if they return to the capital, won't your majesty chop off our heads? We agreed that they would only go out of the city at most. In Tongzhou, the palace guards will surely catch us, but no one has been seen so far... The longer time passes, the more unstable our head becomes."
"Who says it's not?"
Gao Feng also had a headache.
When they first left the palace together, the four of them were forcibly pulled out by Zhu Houzhao, as if Zhu Houzhao threatened to kill the Zhang brothers.
Zhu Houzhao didn't explain clearly that he wanted to kill them, but he said that he would create "accidents" for them, such as "accidentally falling into a well". Who among the eunuchs in the East Palace didn't know that Zhu Houzhao was doing all kinds of things? If this was really an "accident" forcibly caused by a young prince, his death would be in vain.
"I thought that if I followed the prince out, I would be caught early. As long as I tell His Majesty the whole story, even if I am punished, it will only be a physical pain. Who would have thought that the palace guards are so incompetent?" Ma Yongcheng said bitterly, "Now we It is better to find a way to leave clues for the people behind you, so that even if you are caught, you can have an explanation when you go back, which can be regarded as a crime and meritorious service, right?"
Ma Yongcheng is going to "rebellion".
Since Jin Yiwei and other pursuers can't find us, we will leave clues for them and help them find people.
Only in this way can this life be saved.
"If the prince knows about this...he is here and taken back...do you think the prince will let the person who betrayed his whereabouts go?" Gao Feng was obviously a little afraid of things.
If you offend the prince, you will die accidentally. If you obey the prince, you will be beheaded by the emperor. Either way, you will die.
Ma Yongcheng said anxiously: "We are here now, and we still don't want to pay for our crimes and make meritorious services. Do we really don't want this head?"
Gao Feng said: "Liu Jin came to our house before and said he had a good idea."
Ma Yongcheng said angrily: "After all this time, you actually believe Liu Jin? If he hadn't instigated him, His Highness wouldn't have thought of going to Jiangnan to find Mr. Zhang and push us into a pit of fire. I guess the prince's threatening words are all That guy taught me.”
"It's Mr. Zhang." Gao Feng said, "I left a clue for the pursuers. If we are found, His Majesty may not let us people go. If the prince knows, he will not let him go easily. He is afraid that he will die without knowing. For this plan , besides Mr. Zhang, who else can help people like us?"
"You mean?" Ma Yongcheng looked at Gao Feng with wide eyes.
"Just find a way to notify Mr. Zhang and ask him to secretly send someone to protect the prince. Your Majesty will feel relieved knowing that the prince is with Mr. Zhang. And this is exactly the trick of Shouning Hou and Jianchang Bo, which is to push everything to Zhang. Mr. Zhang’s side makes His Majesty feel that the Crown Prince is doing everything to find Mr. Zhang... Only in this way can we get through it safely."
Gao Feng reminded in a low voice while walking towards the direction of the carriage.
Ma Yongcheng said in surprise: "That guy Liu Jin... still has some brains."
Gao Feng said: "Think about it, if the prince makes a mistake, not only our own head, but also the clan members can't be saved. But if the prince is under the protection of Mr. Zhang, your majesty can rest assured, and we won't have any big responsibility. It's best to do it again." Please ask Mr. Zhang to intercede..."
"Is it useful?" Ma Yongcheng asked.
"It all depends on man-made things. For example, Mr. Zhang said that there is a conflict between the prince and the third prince, or that the prince's destiny must be to have a Qianlong travel south of the Yangtze River, who can occupy the Ming Dynasty and stabilize the dragon's veins... In short, it is said that the prince's move south is due to fate. , then aren’t we just following God’s will?” Gao Feng was talking as if he was talking nonsense.
Ma Yongcheng opened his mouth and said, "Is this what Liu Jin said?"
Gao Feng said: "Some of it is what he said, and some of it is what I think. Although Liu Jin is good at flattering, he is also very clever. Do you think he doesn't care about his own life? Now we are all grasshoppers on a rope, too. Don’t think about what’s available or not, it’s better to quickly find a way to notify Mr. Zhang, that’s the right way.”
…
…
Zhang Zhou went south much faster than Zhu Houzhao.
The distance is falling further and further.
But no matter how fast it was, it was not as fast as the imperial court's horse. Soon Zhang Zhou knew about Zhu Youtang's addition of a child, his concubine, and the fact that Zhu Houzhao ran away from home.
Zhu Youtang could hide it from the courtiers and prevent the prince from studying on the grounds that the prince was banned. It would not be surprising if the lecturers in the East Palace could not meet him. The seventh month had not passed yet, and the Jingyan Autumn Lectures had not yet been resumed. Easy to deal with.
But Zhu Youtang always wanted to find his son. As soon as Zhu Houzhao disappeared, he informed Zhang Zhou with a secret order and asked Zhang Zhou to calculate Zhu Houzhao's route.
"The prince is missing?"
When Tang Yin sent a letter and Zhang Zhou had to tell him the news in person, he was so surprised that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear.
By this time, the group had already passed Xuzhou, and there were only about four days left by boat from Nanjing.
Zhang Zhou said: "The prince escaped from the palace privately and was covered by the carriages of Shouning Hou and Jianchang Bo. After leaving the city, he abandoned the carriage and hired an ox cart to go to Tongzhou. It is said that he boarded a ship in Tongzhou, but the ships were tracked along the way and there was no trace of them. I found... It was also said that the prince was actually going to the Western Mountains, and going east was just a cover, and there was also news that the prince hired a carriage to go north..."
"Wait a minute." Tang Yin frowned, "Where have you gone?"
"Where else can we go? Naturally, come to Nanjing with us." Zhang Zhou said.
"Hiss, the prince came to Nanjing? Why? If anything happens to the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty will fall into turmoil." Tang Yin was also very anxious.
Once the prince's destination is Nanjing, it is likely to be related to Zhang Zhou, and Tang Yin may also be involved.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "That was in the past. Your Majesty now has a new heir, the third son of the emperor Zhu Houxuan. You don't know much about the prince's character. This child is not old, but he has many opinions. Sometimes he even feels that he … He doesn’t look like a child, but like an old-fashioned fox.”
Tang Yin frowned.
Is this your evaluation of the Ming Dynasty’s crown prince?
How disrespectful.
"No matter what cover he used, the root cause that can't be found is not where his destination is, but because he blended into the crowd, probably in disguise. Even Jin Yiwei couldn't imagine that an inconspicuous boy in the crowd, Will he be the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty?"
Zhang Zhou said with a smile.
Tang Yin asked: "If the prince runs away from home, senior brother is not worried?"
"It's always a training for the prince." Zhang Zhou didn't take it seriously.
The public security along the Ming Dynasty is actually not bad. At least the canal line is the top priority of the Ming Dynasty's public security. To say that there will be river bandits and thieves along this road is really not a problem.
Under Zhu Youtang's rule, the Ming Dynasty's national power was booming. The pedantic civil servants of the Ming Dynasty pursued rule by inaction. Bandits in the Central Plains were not very rampant until the early years of Zhengde, so Zhang Zhou was not too worried about Zhu Houzhao's Safety.
"Senior brother, where did he find him?" Tang Yin asked.
Zhang Zhou shook his head: "With this matter in mind, we can't leave in a hurry. We should slow down our journey south."
Tang Yin said: "But you are already the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing."
The transfer order has arrived. As the Minister of War in Nanjing, Zhang Zhou should rush to take up his post.
But now it involves the safety of the prince, and Zhang Zhou has also received help from Zhu Youtang. It is reasonable to slow down. Is his personal career more important, or the safety of the prince... There is no need to weigh the scale in Zhang Zhou's heart. , you should care more about what Zhu Youtang thinks.
"Bohu, don't stay here anymore. You and Xu Jing each lead a group of people, one way up the river and the other by dry road, in order to find the whereabouts of the prince within ten days." Zhang Zhou said.
"Then what?" Tang Yin felt that his task was very heavy.
Ten days is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Finding a child is obviously a bit difficult.
Zhang Zhou said: "The goal of escorting me northward is too unsightly for you, so just escort me southward to Nanjing."
"Your Majesty will not pursue the case?" Tang Yin asked.
"I will explain the situation to Your Majesty. Now we need to ensure the safety of the Crown Prince. As for where he is, it is not the most important thing. After all, he will be punished by Your Majesty after he returns to Beijing, so it is better to follow his lead. I mean, come to Jiangnan for a walk." Zhang Zhou seemed to be very open-minded about this matter.
Tang Yin frowned and said, "I'm afraid that Your Majesty won't even let my senior brother go."
Zhang Zhou shrugged and said, "What does this have to do with me? I was just helping to find people and protecting him. When the prince left the palace, he didn't discuss it with me, and he didn't let me push him around. I escorted him to Nanjing in a relatively safe way." , when the imperial court sends someone to take him back, am I still wrong?"
Tang Yin thought for a while and couldn't help but nodded.
He was also thinking that as long as Zhang Zhou abdicated all responsibilities, he, Tang Yin, would not be involved, and would even leave a good impression on the emperor by protecting the prince.
As for meritorious service, there is no need... the prince's disappearance is the highest secret in the court.
As long as he doesn't get into trouble, it's fine. Being able to find and protect the prince is also a way for the emperor to show that he is capable.
(End of chapter)
