Gu Zhengchen was busy delivering piglets in Jurong, dividing land to plant medicinal herbs, and called on the people to raise chickens, ducks, geese and other poultry. The county government was responsible for purchasing eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs, etc.
Running around here and there, busy.
On a day in early June, the hot breath swept through everyone like a wave.
At dusk and sunset, when the evening wind blew, there was finally a little coolness.
After Liu Ji took a shower, he wore a set of white clothes with narrow sleeves and walked in the winding corridor of the front yard.
Seeing Liu Ji's melancholy expression, Xiao Zhang picked up the cattail leaf fan and shook it in the wind: "What are you thinking about? You are so depressed."
Liu Ji shook his head slightly, with a look of helplessness on his face: "Jurong is a comfortable place. Unfortunately, your majesty refused when I requested an order to go to Jurong this time. He asked me to stay in Jinling and recuperate. Haha, whether I am sick or not, your majesty does. Very clear.”
Just when Xiao Zhang was about to say a few words of comfort, a servant came over and reported, "Sir, Zhan Tong, the Minister of Staff, wants to see you."
Liu Bowen frowned slightly.
I don't have a close relationship with Zhan Tong. It's more of a friendship between the court and the court. I rarely come to visit. I don't know why he came here at this time.
People are here, please come in if you need them.
Zhan Tong is old and has a cane in his hand, supported by a boy.
"Brother Tongwen."
Liu Ji stepped forward and saluted.
Zhan Tong signaled the young man to step back and looked at Liu Ji with a smile: "Brother Bowen, can you guess my purpose of coming this night?"
Liu Ji stepped forward to help Zhan Tong, sat down in the small pavilion, pointed to his stomach and said, "It's hard to guess why Brother Tongwen came, but I guess it's because the place is so crowded that I can't express myself in writing."
Zhan Tong laughed, put his crutches next to the stone table, and said with a vicissitudes of life: "Sure enough, he still has sharp eyes, and he is very good at predicting things. To be honest, I am here to say goodbye. This side, I'm afraid, is See you for the last time."
Liu Ji was a little surprised, but he quickly accepted the news: "When Wu Lin and Wu Shangshu left at the beginning of the year, you had already decided to quit. Now that you have to leave, although it makes me very sad to leave, but looking at your body, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear it. It's been too long. But, has the superior nodded? You are the first person to carry out the decree."
Most of the imperial edicts in the early Hongwu period were written by Zhan Tong, and they were very much in line with Zhu Yuanzhang's wishes.
Zhan Tong shook his head slightly: "If the superior doesn't agree, I, the old man, will die in office. Your Majesty lowered the curtain and allowed me to return to my hometown, but I was not allowed to resign."
Liu Ji looked deeply at Zhan Tong, quite envious: "You are still favored by His Majesty. If I can return to my hometown, why should I stay here, trembling under the wind and clouds."
Fu and Xiao Zhang prepared wine bottles, wine glasses, and some side dishes.
Seeing that there was no one else around, Zhan Tong sighed: "First, Guangdong Political Consultant Wang Guangyang returned to Jinling and took charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and then Sichuan Political Consultant Hou Shan was transferred to Zhongshu and served as Political Consultant. During this period, the ministers and ministers changed several times. People, His Majesty changes people frequently, it’s really hard to figure out what’s going on.”
Liu Ji took a sip of wine and said, "I still don't know what I'm thinking, so I don't believe Hu Weiyong and Chen Ning."
"If you don't believe it, why do you still entrust it with such a heavy responsibility?"
Zhan Tong was puzzled.
Liu Ji looked at the night sky: "Since ancient times, what emperors are best at is the art of control. In their view, checks and balances are king. Just wait, it won't be long before there will be another prime minister from Zhongshu Province. . If the ministers do not fight, the emperor will not be able to sleep. Thinking back to when Li Shan and I grew up, haha, it’s a pity..."
Zhan Tong knew that Liu Ji's judgment would not be wrong. With Zhu Yuanzhang's temperament, now that he had brought Wang Guangyang back, he would not let Hu Weiyong struggle alone in Zhongshu Province.
"There is one more thing that I hope Brother Bowen will pay attention to."
Zhan Tong said softly.
"Speaking."
Liu Ji's face became serious.
Zhan Tong looked around again and lowered his voice: "The Marquis of Huai'an and the Governor of the Metropolitan Governor's Office, Hua Yunlong, are guarding Beiping, you know."
"nature."
Liu Ji could still hear this news.
Zhan Tong continued: "Hua Yunlong is guarding Beiping. At this time, he is busy building more buildings in Beiping City and recruiting manpower to build Prince Yan's Palace. But two days ago, His Majesty suddenly issued an order to recall Hua Yunlong, saying that he had taken things from the Yuan Dynasty palace. , transgressing etiquette, etc."
"Is this serious?"
Liu Ji frowned.
Zhan Tong sighed: "Is it serious or not? It's hard to say. According to the words of Liu Ren, Minister of the Ministry of War, Hua Yunlong did take two carved chairs and several pieces of silk from the Yuan Dynasty palace. But if it is said to have violated etiquette, he used the words used by Emperor Yuan. Objects should not exist.”
Liu Ji thought about it, and Hua Yunlong was not a person who didn't understand the rules.
But why do you say this so solemnly?
Zhan Tong looked at Liu Ji's questioning eyes and sighed: "Not only this, His Majesty also blamed Hua Yonglong for arranging Semu people and Mongolians to serve as officers in the army, and Hua Yunlong for marrying two Hu women. concubine."
Liu Ji stared: "What on earth does this mean?"
Zhan Tong was bitter: "What does it mean? Don't you know yet? Jinling is more than two thousand miles away from Peiping, but His Majesty knows everything about Peking. He even knows the secrets of the Marquis of Huai'an. . I dare not speculate on other things, but one thing is that there are probably more and more people to inspect the school, and Brother Bowen once opposed the relocation of the capital to Fengyang in Jinling, but now he has stopped serving the capital..."
Liu Ji understood Zhan Tong's words, he was reminding himself.
What kind of person is Hua Yunlong? He is a well-known and powerful figure. He is a powerful general in the Yuan Dynasty and the Marquis of Huai'an in the Ming Dynasty!
But now, he is almost doing everything wrong.
It seems that Zhu Yuanzhang was looking for trouble and arranged for Mongolians to serve as officers in the army. Is this kind of thing worthy of blame? Go to Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, and Xu Da's army and see which one does not have a Mongolian officer?
Isn’t it okay to marry two barbarians as concubines?
You may not be able to count how many generals in the army have married Hu women. This was not a big mistake at all, especially for such a founding general, but it became the reason for Zhu Yuanzhang's reprimand.
This means that if I want to punish you, whatever you do is wrong.
Liu Ji didn't understand how Hua Yunlong offended Zhu Yuanzhang, and he didn't know whether Zhu Yuanzhang was targeting Hua Yunlong or using Hua Yunlong to beat other people. Lao Zhu was very good at this trick of cursing mulberry trees and cutting down locust trees.
But if Hua Yunlong is the mulberry tree, then who is the locust tree?
Liu Ji stood up and bowed deeply: "Brother Tongwen, thank you very much."
Zhan Tong chuckled, waved his hand and changed the topic: "If Fang Guozhen hadn't left, I think you would have settled in Jurong for a while. When Wu Lin left, she praised Gu Zhengchen, the magistrate of Jurong, and said that this person has the latitude and longitude It's a pity that I was ill when he got married, so I didn't get to see him once. I'm leaving this time, so I thought of going to Jurong to see him in person."
Liu Ji knew Zhan Tong's eagerness.
As a wise man who is old and doesn't know how many years have passed, he naturally wants to meet a virtuous person in the few days.
Liu Ji walked outside the pavilion and looked up at the stars: "I pride myself on reading countless people and being able to read people's thoughts, but there are two people I have never been able to understand. The first one is Your Majesty."
Zhan Tong walked out on crutches: "The second person you mentioned is Gu Zhengchen, right?"
Liu Ji nodded solemnly: "Yes, that's him. Brother Tongwen, don't underestimate this person. Although he does not have too much knowledge, his talent, ability and wisdom can be said to be rare. The Emperor's Thoughts Like the sea, it's unfathomable, and it's a matter of course that you can't see through it. But Gu Zhengchen is like a meandering river with surging mountains. You don't know where it turns or where it stirs up waves."
"When you stare at him, you can only see part of it. When you try to understand and infer his actions, you will find that he often does not act according to common sense. Just like the bunk bed, this is not unthinkable, but He was the only one who took it out to solve the problem of personnel placement. And the tactical backpack, especially the appearance of Pinyin, is even more incredible."
Zhan Tong raised his head and looked at the starry sky: "So, before leaving, I want to meet such talents for a while, otherwise, I will feel regretful in my heart. Bowen, do you think this person can grow into a minister of Zhongshu in the future? ?”
Minister of Zhongshu?
Liu Ji took a deep look at Zhan Tong. Although there were many ministers in Zhongshu, what Zhan Tong really wanted to express was whether Gu Zhengchen could grow into a being like Hu Weiyong and Li Shanchang.
"He is not low-key at all. He is in Jurong, but his movements are bigger than those of the Liubu Tang officials. He is so provocative, like a tree standing tall in the forest. Just be afraid, he cannot withstand the storm."
Liu Ji was deeply worried.
Zhan Tong understands this concern.
Don't worry, Gu Zhengchen is just a magistrate of Jurong County, but he still has the title of "Mr. Zhong of the Ministry of Industry", which is a capital official, the Jurong Guards command Qianshi, which is a general officer, and the Quanzhou County Male, which is a title.
He is not a simple county magistrate, he is too outstanding.
This person had offended Fei Ju, and was a political opponent that Chen Ning wanted to do everything possible to kill. Hu Weiyong had always been cautious in his attitude towards Gu Zhengchen, but it was certain that Hu Weiyong would not allow a strong challenger or threat to appear.
Zhan Tong knocked on the ground with his crutch and said softly: "You can't see through him, how can those people who can blow the wind see through him? Haha, it's a pity that I am old. After many years, there is a story A good show is on."
Liu Ji turned to look at Zhan Tong and said calmly: "There is no one behind him to support him. Neither the southerners nor the northerners support him."
Zhan Tong took a small step forward: "The southerners you are talking about are from eastern Zhejiang, and the northerners are from Huaixi. Haha, Bowen, it's already this time, why can't you jump out of the region? We are people of the Ming Dynasty and the emperor's people. As long as we are a subject of the Ming Dynasty and are recognized by the emperor, he will have the opportunity to sit in the position of Prime Minister Zhongshu."
It's getting late, I have to leave.
Take care.
Zhan Tong left Uncle Chengyi's Mansion, sat in the carriage, looked at the still bustling Jinling, and said to himself: "It's so prosperous, it's easy to forget what my hometown looks like, so it's better to go back..."
The evening breeze blew, and he turned over and entered the palace.
Huagai Palace.
Zhu Yuanzhang stretched his sore neck. After listening to Mao Xiang's report, he waved his hand: "Let Zhan Tong go back to his hometown. If he wants to go to Jurong, let him go. When a person is old, what else can he do? thought."
