In the western suburbs of the capital, Xu Jue galloped on his horse. The dozen or so cavalry attendants behind him could not imagine that this steward, who looked as ugly as a human toad, could actually have such superb riding skills.
Xu Jue, however, had no time to consider the feelings of his entourage. He was just anxious now, anxious to send Mr. Zhang Ge's reply back to the capital as soon as possible so that his master would know where the real danger was at the moment.
When he was ordered to meet Zhang Juzheng, Feng Bao didn't know that he had been secretly assigned the handprint. At that time, Feng Bao was provoked by Li Wenjin, and in a rage, he asked Chu Zhiyuan to frame Gao Pragmatic.
Xu Jue only knew this much about the situation at the time, but he rushed to Tianshou Mountain to tell Zhang Juzheng about the situation. Mr. Zhang Ge, who was usually calm and composed, actually got angry directly for the first time, calling him "absurd", "childish", and "innocent" "Wuchengfu" and so on, he cursed a lot, frightening Xu Jue, who was not Zhang Ge's subordinate at all.
After Zhang Juzheng finally got tired of scolding, Xu Jue asked him tremblingly why he was so angry. Zhang Juzheng had just been discouraged, but now he was angry again. While scolding, he gave Xu Jue a simple analysis of the situation.
The cursing words are too inconsistent with Mr. Zhang Ge's tone, so I won't go into details. I will mainly talk about Zhang Juzheng's views.
Zhang Juzheng believes that now is the key point for the transfer of power. No matter how favored and trusted Gao Gong was back then, and even Gao Gong made the final decision on national affairs before Long Qing died, after all, the current emperor is Zhu Yijun, and Li Guifei is the emperor's biological mother. He has complete influence or control over the emperor who is only ten years old and not in charge.
At this time, unless there is a huge scandal in Li Guifei herself, which is so big that Gao Gong can use it to depose Li Guifei, otherwise Li Guifei is equivalent to imperial power!
What kind of scandal can Concubine Li have? How could a man get into the palace and have sex with her? Even when the two palaces met with ministers from the outer court, they had to be surrounded by a large number of eunuchs and maids waiting on them!
Just content with it? Unless male mosquitoes are considered men.
So this only possibility has disappeared. In other words, Gao Gong poses no threat to Concubine Li.
Since Concubine Li is not in danger, as long as Feng Bao insists on obeying her in everything, he will be in an invincible position. Whether he can do this or not is just a nominal matter. Chaos, this palm print will be his sooner or later.
Zhang Juzheng sighed and lectured Xu Jue, "You should have heard some of the conversation between our cabinet and your master. Don't you understand some of its meaning? With your master's situation, as long as you wait calmly, then The palm print is definitely his. I know that he hates the uncle and nephew of the Gao family very much, but a small impatience will ruin the big plan. It is them who should be anxious now. What is your master worried about? As long as your master is not anxious, If you sit still on the Diaoyutai, they will definitely move! And if they move, there will be a flaw, which will make it easier for your master to take action and defeat the enemy with one strike!"
Xu Jue may be a little clever, but in terms of the overall situation of the country and the high-level competition, he can only be submissive in front of Zhang Juzheng. After hearing this, he suddenly realized and quickly asked, "What should my master do now?" ?”
"What should we do?" Zhang Juzheng sighed, "Go back as soon as possible and see if you can stop it in time. If you can, that would be the best. Your master just needs to stay quietly. No matter how the uncle and nephew of the Gao family move, he will Don't respond, just serve the imperial concubine well."
Then he paused and said, "If it's too late, we must deal with it decisively."
"How to deal with it decisively?" Xu Jue asked again.
Zhang Juzheng became angry again and said coldly, "Kill everyone involved first! As long as your master is fine, there is still room for change."
Xu Jue didn't dare to ask this question again, so he only made a few promises, changed the subject, and asked about another thing that Feng Bao was worried about, "My master has one more thing to ask Mr. Ge. When will you be able to return to Beijing?"
Zhang Juzheng said, "Let's go in two days. We can't go wrong when we visit the emperor's mausoleum."
Xu Jue responded and was about to leave, but he didn't want someone from outside to report that Meng Chong, the new Changping garrison eunuch and promoted mausoleum worker, wanted to see him.
Zhang Juzheng was surprised and said, "Meng Chong? Which Meng Chong?"
The visitor reported, "It is none other than the former Chief Eunuch Meng Gong. It is said that he resigned from his post as Chief Eunuch and came to appoint mausoleum workers for Emperor Daxing."
Zhang Juzheng was shocked and asked, "Who is holding the seal of the Supervisor of Ceremonies now?"
The visitor didn't know Xu Jue's identity and simply replied, "It's Mr. Feng, the former admiral of Dongchang."
Zhang Juzheng's expression changed drastically. He glanced at Xu Jue and said with a serious face, "I'm afraid something will happen in Beijing. I'm afraid Meng Chong's visit may not be as simple as promoting mausoleum workers."
Xu Jue was also anxious and said, "Mr. Ge, how about I go through the back door first?"
"You wait for a while." Zhang Juzheng took a deep breath, calmed down, and said, "There is no hurry at this moment. Let me test Meng Chong's tone before making a decision."
As a result of this test, Zhang Juzheng felt more and more that something was wrong.
Of course, Meng Chong would not tell Zhang Juzheng that he was promoted to mausoleum due to Gao pragmatic persuasion because he knew that Concubine Li had appointed Feng Bao as the palm seal, but he also knew that with his ability, he could deceive Zhang Juzheng with lies. He was afraid that it would be self-defeating, so he simply stated the obvious things.
After Zhang Juzheng heard this, he immediately felt that something was wrong. The palm seal of the Supervisor of Ceremonies was something that Feng Bao had longed for but could never get. Why did Meng Chong give up the position of the palm seal to him? Standing behind him was Gao Gong. If Gao Gong hadn't nodded, would Meng Chong have resigned?
But why did Gao Gong nod? This is completely counterintuitive. If Gao Gong was willing to let Feng Bao do the palm seal, he would have recommended him to do it long ago, why wait until now? Under the current circumstances, even if Gao Gong personally came out to recommend Feng Bao, I'm afraid it would be the same as when Xu Jie recommended Gao Gong to the cabinet. The latter didn't buy it at all. It's obvious that I can do it without you!
There must be something wrong here. Although it is still difficult to determine the specific situation due to limited information, Zhang Juzheng insists that Gao Gong is most likely taking retreat to advance!
Meng Chong, however, ignored all these things and simply recounted these things. Then he began to talk about the mausoleum incessantly, from topography and feng shui to the five elements of yin and yang, from climate and solar terms to spring drought and autumn floods. In a word, he attached great importance to the construction of the Daxing Emperor's mausoleum and insisted on taking Zhang Juzheng for on-site inspection and detailed investigation.
Zhang Juzheng was helplessly pestered by him, and he was not too eager to say that he seemed to be neglecting the mausoleum work. He had no choice but to say that he would take a bath, change his clothes, and accompany Mr. Meng down the mountain. After hearing this, Meng Chong was satisfied and went to the flower hall to wait for him.
Zhang Juzheng waited for Meng Chong to leave, and immediately called Xu Jue out. He explained to Xu Jue very seriously, and then sighed, "Meng Chong must have a mission here. I have already guessed what it is." ”
Xu Jue was very surprised, but he didn't see it at all, so he had to ask, "I don't know what the mission is?"
Zhang Juzheng looked helpless and sighed, "Hold me and don't let me return to Beijing."
