Just as Zhu Houzhao stood up and was about to respond to Concubine Li's appointment, an eunuch came in and reported: "Your Majesty, Eunuch Zhang, the Chief Secretary for Literature, asked for a meeting."

Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment, sat down again, and waved his hand: "Summon Zhang Yuan's servant to see him, I want to see what's wrong with him."

Soon, Zhang Yuan appeared in front of Zhu Houzhao with a flattering smile.

Zhu Houzhao frowned and asked, "Eunuch Zhang, you have never seen the dragon's head and tail these days... I have something to look for you before, but I can't even see the shadow. Are you intentionally avoiding me?"

When Zhang Yuan heard this, he knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, you have wronged me. I have been busy with court affairs these days and don't know that you are looking for a slave... I have a priority to report to Your Majesty today."

"What's the matter?"

Zhu Houzhao picked up a piece of candied fruit from the lunch box in front of her and threw it into her mouth, asking while chewing it.

Zhang Yuan replied: "This is not the case with the Ministry of Rites Bai Shangshu resigned, and the court and the country were discussing... Bai Shangshu resigned for more than once or twice. This time he was very determined and had four memorials after the New Year... As the old slave knew, Bai Shangshu was in poor health and was basically bedridden now, so..."

Zhu Houzhao interrupted Zhang Yuan impatiently, "Why are you talking so much nonsense? Isn't it just that Bai Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites resigned? He wants to return home after he is sick and satisfy his wish. Is it because the court is full of wine and food bags, and no one can take over? I don't want to hear such a thing."

Emperor Zhengde was upset at this moment and did not want to ask about the affairs of the court. In his philosophy, those who helped him deal with the affairs of the court should get things done directly. After that, you can tell him and you don’t even have to report to him. For example, if Bai Yue resigns, it is best if Zhang Yuan directly talks about the candidate who replaces Bai Yue so that he will not be too troublesome.

Zhang Yuan said: "Your Majesty, in addition to this matter, there are also funds needed to be allocated to repair those abandoned palaces..."

Zhu Houzhao narrowed her eyes and looked at Zhang Yuan and asked, "Why, are you trying to ask me for money? You can go directly to the Ministry of Revenue to find Yang Yiqing. Is it necessary to ask me for instructions?"

Zhang Yuan waved his hand quickly: "I have no intention of this, but there are people in the court now that they are obstructing it. They say that since the construction of the Leopard House is being built, there is no need to waste it in the palace. In addition, the court may use troops against the Tartars this year and need to collect money and food. Driving ground at this time is like a waste of money and money..."

Zhu Houzhao muttered: "Even if we want to start a war against the Tartars, we can't delay my daily life. But the ministers seem to be right. I don't live in the palace usually. There are only a few mothers in the inner garden, and many palaces are vacant. It's just that whether to repair or not... Well, I'll listen to those ministers in advance and will not repair them for the time being, so they won't talk nonsense anymore, right?"

"Your Majesty, you are..."

When Zhang Yuan heard this, he found that this was completely different from Zhu Houzhao's style of conduct before. Why did he choose to give up so easily? He couldn't help but ask.

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand to interrupt Zhang Yuan and said with a cold face: "If it is just these messy trivial matters, you can decide by yourself, don't bother me. But since you are here, I will explain that the matter of Shangshu Bai's resignation is accurate. As for who will take over, let the court officials give their personal choices, and I can issue an order to confirm it at that time... Do you have anything else?"

When Zhang Yuan saw that the situation was not good, he might be scolded by Zhu Houzhao if he continued, so he immediately saluted: "I have no other official duties to report."

"Then get out."

Zhu Houzhao stood up and wanted to leave, but Zhang Yuan walked a few steps and blocked Zhu Houzhao again.

Zhu Houzhao was furious: "Didn't you say it's okay?"

Zhang Yuan said aggrievedly: "The court affairs are gone, but I still have private matters to report... I collected some good things from the people and wanted to present them to Your Majesty."

"oh!?"

Zhu Houzhao suddenly became interested. Now he couldn't find folk scholars to have a banquet, and he was bored. Moreover, since he ascended the throne, he had been singing and singing almost every night. He found that women were actually just like that, and he felt tired of sex. Now if Zhang Yuan was sending him a beautiful woman, he would never give him a good face. However, when he heard that it was some folk things, he suddenly became energetic and stared at him with interest: "Since there are good things, why don't you present them to me quickly."

"yes."

Zhang Yuan respectfully accepted the order, stood up and retreated, and soon turned around. This time he followed more than a dozen eunuchs and carried a few large boxes into the house.

Zhu Houzhao looked eager and scratched her head. She finally walked around the box for a few times before turning her head and asked, "What is it in here? Open it and take a look!"

Zhang Yuan asked people to open the box with a slight look. In each box, there was a woman tied tightly, covering her mouth, eyes, and ears. These women looked neither young, about 20 or 30 years old, and they all looked quite a bit of a celebrating. Zhang Yuan happily introduced: "These were specially collected by the old slaves from the wealthy families in the capital for His Majesty. Some of them were shameless and could only be sent to His Majesty at night."

Zhu Houzhao was full of anticipation and turned into vanish. The smile on her face froze. Then she frowned and asked viciously: "Eunuch Zhang, what do you mean? Are you trying to say that I am a foolish monarch and force the robbery of a civilian girl?"

Zhang Yuan was shocked and thought to himself: "Isn't this your style of doing things? You have done a lot of things like this before. I just went to those wealthy families to snatch concubines. This is more quality than the women Qian Ning and others brought back from various places by using coercion and inducement."

Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "Send people away quickly! Where did they come from, and send them back! The capital is the best place. If a large-scale disappearance occurs, all young women will be young, so how much trouble will it cause... If people know that it was done by the Leopard House, how can I have the face to rule the people of the world?"

Zhang Yuan was completely confused. I wonder why Zhu Houzhao had such a big temper. He thought to himself: "Why would you rather rob the money, but I can't? Do you have to make up lies that these women were Mu Tianyan coming, so that His Majesty would look at me with admiration?"

At this moment, another eunuch came in, Xiao Tiaozi went over to ask, and then came back to Zhu Houzhao's ear and whispered: "Your Majesty, Concubine Li sent someone to urge him, and Concubine Hua also came to invite him..."

Zhu Houzhao glared at Zhang Yuan a few times and said unhappy: "I was in a good mood at first, but now I'm so angry that I'm so angry... Zhang Yuan, please step down, remember what I said, don't do anything wrong... Little Twist, send someone to inform me, I won't go to Concubine Li's place today, and prepare to go to Concubine Hua's room to take a look!"

Zhu Houzhao suddenly remembered that he hadn't been to see Concubine Hua for a long time. In the past, when he was in a bad mood, he would go to Concubine Hua's room. Concubine Hua was good at speaking and very good at "instructing" people. Every time he could relieve his annoyance.

When Zhu Houzhao left with Xiao Tiaozi, Zhang Yuan stood there blankly, murmured: "What's the situation? Your Majesty is usually the best woman. Today, he is disdainful and refuses to get close to the appreciation. He even asked me to send them all away... Also, Concubine Hua clearly has fallen out of favor, and now he can still get His Majesty's blessing? This king's heart is really hard to predict..."

The eunuchs guarding the door looked at each other in a daze. One of them mustered up the courage to ask, "Eunuch Zhang, how do you deal with these women?"

Zhang Yuan came back to his senses and said annoyedly: "What else can you do? You are deaf and didn't hear what Your Majesty ordered? Send people back, send them back wherever they come from... Watch those families. If someone wants to sue the official, just arrest them, and the matter must not be a big deal."

The questioner smiled too flatteringly and said, "Where is the place where Shuntian Mansion dares to care about this now? He is suppressing everything... Who has ever made a statement before that?"

Zhang Yuan suddenly realized that it was not the time when Zhu Houzhao had just ascended the throne. At that time, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang were in power. The court had just experienced the Qingming Festival of Hongzhi, and the censors were proud of reporting and accepting advice. After Liu Jin had troubled the court, the officials of the court were basically deceived and concealed by the subordinates. The atmosphere was corrupt. No matter how honest and honest the ministers were, they would not do their best to do their best as before. They would not spare their lives to make a name for themselves.

...

...

February 1st.

All the yamen in the capital were officially opened on this day, and all the officials who had been on vacation for a whole month returned to their posts.

Among the six yamen of the court, only the Ministry of War and the Minister of Rites did not return to the yamen, and they were kept at home in the form of claiming to be sick. However, Bai Yue was different from Shen Xi. He was really sick. Everyone in the world knew that Shen Xi was pretending to be sick, but even the emperor ignored this matter. Even if the court officials were clear-headed, they would only pretend to be confused.

Xie Qian returned to Wenyuan Pavilion that day. Although the cabinet has been operating after the New Year, as the chief minister, he did not enter the palace many times. Xie Qian handed over the memorials sent by the Tongzheng Envoy Office to Liang Chu and Yang Tinghe for handling. Now Liang Chu is in charge of the examination, and Yang Tinghe alone is too busy, so Xie Qian comes to help.

Xie Qian had just sat down after the desk of Wenyuan Pavilion's office. He glanced at Bai Yue's resignation memorial submitted by him on the table. He picked it up and looked at it for a few times and said bluntly, "Didn't I say that I'll let Bingde take care of his illness at home and leave his official duties to his subordinates for handling. It's not too late to return to the court when he is healthy. How much does it mean to be so impatient to resign?"

Yang Tinghe said: "Old Master Xie, I visited Bai Shangshu the day before yesterday. His body... is really not optimistic. He coughed so hard that he was heartbreaking. The imperial physician said he needed to recuperate urgently, otherwise he might be in danger of life."

"Will he be fine when he was waiting for court that day?" Xie Qian looked straight and his face was so dark that he seemed to believe that Bai Yue was pretending to be sick and deliberately disliked him.

Yang Tinghe naturally didn't say anything, so when Xie Qian was about to write a non-approval bill directly on the memorial, Zhang Yuan's voice came from the door.

"What made Lord Xie so angry?"

Soon Zhang Yuan entered the office room, and Xie Qian immediately stood up, and was a little busy because he was not mentally prepared. As soon as he started work, he saw the eunuch, the chief minister of the cabinet, who could check and balance his power in terms of seals.

Zhang Yuan came with several eunuchs, and the one who fell down and bowed was Dai Yi, the eunuch who bridegroom.

Xie Qian stepped forward to salute and asked, "Eunuch Zhang, do you have any important matters to explain to Your Majesty?"

Zhang Yuan smiled and said, "Did your Majesty not telling us that our family can't come? Haha... This is to discuss the court's personnel arrangements with Lord Xie. I heard that Bai Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites begged to return to the land. From the New Year to now, he has submitted memorials repeatedly. It is not convenient for the Silijian to sit idly by."

Xie Qian said: "Bai Shangshu's health is good. He is just cautious, worried that he is old and will delay the affairs of the court... In fact, his body can be recovered with a little care, and Eunuch Zhang will not have to worry about it."

Zhang Yuan frowned: "I heard from Mr. Xie, that's why our family is meddling in other people's business? The memorials have arrived at the Sili Supervisor, and they are not one or two. It's natural for our family to ask for it. Even His Majesty has heard of them. I asked in person, can our family still be deaf and dumb? Alas! Some people always like to talk in front of His Majesty, but I don't know what he is thinking, and they always want to interfere in their affairs... It's really hard to predict!"

Every sentence of Zhang Yuan has a strong hint.

Xie Qian's ears suddenly became slim... Who is so polite that he actually told His Majesty about the matter, which made His Majesty, who had always been alienated from the court affairs, suddenly concerned about the court officials' stay or not, and even sent the Chief of the Li Li to come over to ask?

Zhang Yuan's hint clearly pointed to Shen Xi. Now he has an aide and has made deductions before coming to Wenyuan Pavilion. He thinks clearly about what he wants to say, so that it will appear targeted and guide others' thinking. The person who has allowed Zhang Yuan to improve his level is Zang Xian.

Xie Qian said: "Eunuch Zhang means... Shen Zhihou went to His Majesty to talk to him? What are the benefits of doing this? Does he want to interfere with the personnel arrangements of the court? This involves the appointment and removal of the Minister of Rites, and what does it have to do with the Ministry of War?"

Zhang Yuan laughed: "Mr. Xie's words are so puzzling. When did you say that it was done by Shangshu Shen? Forget it, let's not talk about this. Today, we are here to ask how many major events happened in the center and the place in the first lunar month. Let's go back and present a report to His Majesty... It should be more hard for our family to work hard, otherwise the seal of the ritual supervisor... is very important."

Zhang Yuan's tone of speaking was strange. Because he learned to be careless, it was very difficult for Xie Qian to truly understand the meaning of Zhang Yuan's words.

Xie Qian didn't think too much, so he asked Yang Tinghe to sort out the major events that happened in the sixth day of the first lunar month, the yamen of various temples and the local governments, and wrote them into a memorial, and handed them to Zhang Yuan:

"The important things of the imperial court from the center to the local government are basically the ones. At the beginning of the new year, everything is renewed, the world is calm, and there are only sporadic wars in the Central Plains. As I know, the local rebellion has not yet completely subsided. The new Shandong Governor Hu Lian is doing things properly in the local area. Why not let him do it for a few more years..."

"How many years? Haha."

Zhang Yuan laughed loudly, "How is this possible? This Lord Hu was personally arranged by the Minister of War Shen Shangshu. He led his troops to Shandong this time, just to give the grasslands a preview for the spring. Now the local rebellion has basically subsided, so people must be recalled, otherwise what will His Majesty rely on to win the battle? Is it just that Shen Shangshu's mouth?"

Zhang Yuan spoke with a tingling voice. Xie Qian felt very uncomfortable when he heard this. Unfortunately, he could not refute in person. He did not want to be ill with Zhang Yuan. He thought to himself: "You can't offend Eunuch Zhang, even if you treat him as a Bodhisattva, you can't give him food and drink. As long as he is willing to hand over the power... The court is much better now than when Liu Jin was in power. If you don't win over Eunuch Zhang, will you still push him to Shen Zhihou?"

Faced with Zhang Yuan's aggressiveness, Xie Qian didn't know how to respond. Yang Tinghe quickly spoke: "The local stability is needed, and capable officials need to be maintained. If the Shandong governor is recruited back to Beijing, it is afraid that the rebellion in the Central Plains will rekindle... As for the issue of sending troops to the grassland, it is necessary to make a long-term plan, but local rebellion is an urgent need. If internal troubles are not eliminated, why can we resist foreign countries?"

"Mr. Yang is worthy of being a Hanlin family. His words are different from others. It's good, good." Zhang Yuan looked at Yang Tinghe, and his tone was like Yang Tinghe was his junior. In fact, Yang Tinghe was much older than Zhang Yuan. It was just because he was younger than Xie Qian and had just entered the cabinet and lacked sufficient qualifications, so Zhang Yuan's tone was so big.

Xie Qian did not have a quarrel with Zhang Yuan, and said, "Your Majesty entrusted the court affairs to Eunuch Zhang, and the Chief Secretary for the Ministry of Rites can resolve the government affairs on their own. Why bother with Your Majesty? Why not disturb Your Majesty? Why not let the cabinet make a vote now, and the Chief Secretary for the Ministry of Rites make a red flag, and then report to Your Majesty if the matter is handled properly?"

"Okay, then your cabinet will move first, and you can't delay any more!"

After Zhang Yuan finished speaking, he sneered, raised his head, looking extremely arrogant, but he did not say that Hu Lian had received the imperial edict to lead his troops back to the court, and said before leaving:

"The resignation of Shangshu Bai needs to be resolved as soon as possible. Your Majesty has asked our family to report the candidate. This matter has basically been finalized and we can't be fooled anymore... The difficulty lies in the fact that the one who slanders him has a high right to speak. Our family does not have the ability..."

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!