Lingshi Hutong, Lin Mansion.

As Lin Weiran's status became more and more stable, although the enthusiasm of this mansion is a little inferior to that of Yan's mansion and Xu's mansion at its peak, it is no longer much different.

Faced with the continuous stream of officials coming to visit New Year, the Lin family has already had an effective process, which not only prevents Lin Yanran from offending others, but also maximizes the crowd.

Whenever this comes, it is Lin Weiran's most tired period.

It is necessary to let every official visiting feel his or her own values, and to keep his or her principles in conversation, and not to leave bad words. This is undoubtedly a test of energy and body.

In fact, the officialdom is like a world of martial arts, and Lin Qingran is also involuntarily. Even though Lin Qingran is already the leader of the martial arts world, he has to win over all forces and thus consolidate his position as the leader of the civil service group.

That's right, from the first to the third day of the Chinese New Year, Lin Weiran's busiest period, and it was not until the fourth day of the Chinese New Year that he felt a little relieved. Some officials with great good looks were chosen to visit the next day.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the ice and snow have not melted, and the back garden of Lin Mansion is still a world of ice and snow.

A young man in a black robe and an old man in gray were sitting in a pavilion playing chess. The gray old man holding a white chess faced the attack of the young man, and finally abandoned his son with a wry smile and said, "Old Lin Ge is more powerful than before, I surrender

Now!"

As early as when they were working in Guangdong, Wang Bai and Lin Qingran liked to get together to play chess.

But now one has changed from a Guangdong governor to the top leader of the Censorate, and the other has changed from a Guangzhou prefect to a Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Palace and a Minister of War. His identity and status are both impressive.

"I heard that Wang Gong is unparalleled in chess skills in Guangdong, but now it seems that Dongweng is better!" Jiang Ronghua came to the pavilion and said with a smile.

Facing Jiang Ronghua's disguised compliments, Wang Bai said unstandardly: "Haha... I am indeed a rare chess player in Guangdong, but now it is really far from that of Master Lin!"

"Brother Jiang, don't talk nonsense! My chess skills back then were guided by Mr. Wang, otherwise it would be difficult to enter the grand ceremony now. Now I am lucky enough to win Mr. Wang!" Lin Qingran knew that Wang Bai had just had

He deliberately gave in to his own ingredients and did not become proud and complacent.

Wang Bai turned his head and looked at Lin Weiran, but shook his head with a smile and said, "Old Lin Ge is a genius. Although I have been studying for most of my life, I am indeed no longer a match for Old Lin Ge!"

"Okay, you two are both masters of chess skills, only I am a big fool with chess skills!" Jiang Ronghua was also making fun of it just now, and immediately demeaned himself.

Wang Bai knew that Jiang Ronghua was in charge of intelligence work, but he was not in a hurry to clean up his chess pieces and start a new situation, but looked up at Lin Weiran.

Lin Qingran looked at Jiang Ronghua and said half-jokingly: "You ran over to disturb my affairs with Mr. Wang, but I don't know what happened?"

Jiang Ronghua knew that Wang Bai was his own, so he said straight to the point: "A strange thing just happened in the capital! The memorial submitted by Li Tao before the New Year may have been leaked!"

"How is this possible? Who leaked Li Sui's memorial?" Lin Weiran's eyes couldn't help but glared and asked in surprise.

Facing Lin Junran's surprise, Jiang Ronghua took out a letter from his sleeve and said, "Dongweng, this matter has just spread in the capital this morning. Let's take a look at whether the content matches Yuan Shu!"

Although he had heard Lin Weiran mention Li Tao's memorial, he had not seen the content of the memorial, so he did not know whether the rumored memorial was consistent with Li Shou's original memorial.

Lin Qingran took the letter, first browsed it quickly, then sighed helplessly, then nodded softly and said, "This is exactly the same as the copy given to me by Li Tao. Li Tao's memorial was indeed leaked!

”

"Gemaster Lin, Li Tao is the disciple you used to be during the provincial examination. What happened?" Wang Bai couldn't help but ask in confusion when he heard about Li Tao's memorials for the first time.

Lin Qingran sighed inwardly, handed over the letter in his hand and said, "Mr. Wang, Li Tao is indeed my disciple during the provincial examination. Please take a look!"

Wang Bai had never known about Li Tao's memorial. Now, seeing Li Tao belittle Long Qing so much in the memorial, he couldn't help but stare at him.

But he never expected that the seemingly docile Li Tao would have such a straightforward side and would have such a memorial to denounce Longqing.

After reading the content of the memorial carefully, Wang Bai couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said, "Li Tao is too brave, right? If you send this memorial, can the emperor spare him?"

"Li Tao's memorial was handed over at the beginning of last month, but the emperor kept the memorial. I also asked Li Tao not to spread it outside, so this matter has not been made public!" Lin Yanran's mind was working quickly and revealed the truth.

Due to the rigid relationship between Longqing and all officials, the Tongzheng Envoy Department has become normalized. Usually, the memorials of all officials are not checked, but the memorials submitted directly to the Sili Supervisor for processing.

Chen Hong and Feng Baoquanquan are responsible for the Silijian side. As long as they have an explanation, they will basically not disclose the matter.

It is precisely because after Longqing chose to leave Li Tao's memorial, no one leaked the content of the memorial, which is still a secret now.

If the matter has not been leaked, then the matter may be concealed, and this storm may disappear invisibly.

But in this most sensitive period of the Spring Festival, I don’t know who leaked the content of the memorial, which made things complicated immediately.

When Wang Bai learned about the matter, he put down the letter in his hand and said worriedly: "Gei Master Lin, now that this memorial is leaked, the emperor will definitely not ignore it anymore. I am afraid this matter will be in trouble!"

"If the memorial is not made public, then the emperor may not pay attention to Li Tao! But now this memorial has been made public. With my understanding of the emperor, he must have dealt with Li Tao!" Lin Qingran nodded gently,

It is to express one's own judgment.

The biggest difference between Longqing and Jiajing is that he pays more attention to his image. The reason why he ignored Li Tao earlier was not Longqing's demeanor, but his in order to continue his face.

But now that the content of the memorial has been leaked, Long Qing naturally cannot be like Li Tao anymore, and even vented all his anger on Li Tao.

Wang Bai knew this matter was extraordinary, but frowned and said in confusion: "Not many people know about this matter, but I don't know who leaked it?"

"In my opinion, the source of this matter is probably in the palace. The most suspicious person is the eunuch Zhang Fu, who is by the emperor!" Jiang Ronghua knew the situation in the palace best, and immediately expressed his judgment.

Wang Bai heard Jiang Ronghua's speculation and also had his own opinion: "The source of this matter may not be in the palace, but it may also be that Li Tao was famous for seeing that the palace had not responded for a long time, so he chose to write a memorial.

The content is made public!”

It’s not that he has a grudge with Li Tao, but that he knows the officialdom too much. Although there are upright officials like Hai Rui who put life and death outside the state, there is no shortage of political speculators.

Now that the matter is broken, Li Tao will not only win great praise, but also all officials will definitely try their best to protect Li Tao, and even Long Qing dared not kill Li Tao and became notorious.

Lin Qingran silently picked up the teacup, but the only people who knew the content of the memorial were Li Tao, Chen Hong, Zhang Fu, Longqing, him and Li Chunfang, and the biggest suspects of the leaker were indeed Li Tao and Zhang Fu.

"If it goes further, there is another person who leaked the secret of this matter very suspicious!" Jiang Ronghua had become accustomed to too many conspiracies and said mysteriously.

When Wang Bai heard this, he asked seriously: "Who?"

"The Emperor!" Jiang Ronghua looked at Lin Weiran, but said his judgment.

Lin Weiran's brows frowned slightly, but then he felt relieved.

Wang Bai was stunned for a moment, then said in shock: "What do you mean is that the emperor wants to use this to exclude Master Lin, or even take the opportunity to force Master Lin to resign?"

"Mr. Wang, Li Tao and I are not a real teacher-student relationship. Mr. Li Tao and Li Tao are the teachers and students that everyone recognizes!" Lin Qingran held the tea cover and splashed tea lightly, but pointed out the misunderstandings.

road.

In the officialdom, the relationship between teachers and students is like a father-son relationship. Although they enjoy unconditional obedience from disciples, they also bear certain joint and several liability.

It is true that Li Tao is his disciple of Lin Junran. However, compared with the relationship between teachers and students formed by the provincial examination, Li Chunfang and Li Tao are closer.

Once Li Tao is severely punished, Li Chunfang will be the first to be affected, and Lin Qingran may be unscathed.

Wang Bai then realized that he had come over and asked in confusion: "In this way, is the emperor going to deal with Mr. Li and force Mr. Li to resign?"

Lin Junran and Jiang Ronghua exchanged a look, while Jiang Ronghua shook his head gently and said, "I'm afraid it's an illusion to force Mr. Li to resign. The purpose is to alienate the relationship between Mr. Dong and Mr. Li, so as to reap the benefits of the fisherman.

!”

Wang Bai knew that Jiang Ronghua was a very smart person, so he asked seriously: "Why is this?"

"If Mr. Li was removed from office, then I can go further! Especially Li Tao's relationship with me is actually closer, so Mr. Li Ge suspects that I instructed Li Tao to submit a memorial and then leaked the secret at this time, but it was

Take the opportunity to get rid of him!" Lin Qingran found that Jiang Ronghua looked at him and analyzed according to his logic.

When Wang Bai heard this analysis, he found that Li Chunfang was probably dragged down by this matter and was dismissed from office, but suddenly he looked at Lin Weiran with a smile and teasingly.

Lin Qingran sighed helplessly and said calmly: "The current cabinet rankings have no meaning to me, and I have never planned to get rid of Mr. Li. This is indeed not what I did!"

After spending years with Li Chunfang, although Li Chunfang is the chief minister of the cabinet, many major events are actually led by Lin Qingran, and there is no need to get rid of Li Chunfang.

That's why he didn't have to take the huge political risk of a complete break with Li Chunfang for an irrelevant secondary throne.

"This matter was really instructed by the emperor. Is there any expert behind him? "Wang Bai believed that it was not what Lin Xuran did, but said with a frown.

"This is my personal guess, but the truth is the source of the leak needs to be found out!" Jiang Ronghua clarified, and then looked at Lin Qingran and said.

Lin Qingran took a sip of tea and reminded him seriously: "This matter is of great importance. You must find out which channel was leaked as soon as possible, and I will also make corresponding measures!"

"Abide by the order!" Jiang Ronghua knew very well that the matter was extraordinary, so he bowed seriously.

Lin Xuran looked at Jiang Ronghua's back as he left, and sighed inwardly.

Although things are still unclear, the source of the leak is likely to be in the palace, and the biggest possibility is a conspiracy directed by Longqing to differentiate the civil servant group.

No matter how lazy Longqing is, no matter how indifferent he is to the people, he is the family of this dynasty and has enough ability to destroy this great situation.

But he has to admit that even though he has worked hard to change this decadent dynasty, Longqing retains the strength to destroy all the results.

Wang Bai knew that Lin Xuran had no intention of playing chess, so he immediately took the initiative to say goodbye: "Gei Master Lin, I will say goodbye first, and I will play chess with you next day!"

"Okay, I'll give you a gift!" Lin Qingran nodded gently, and then sent Wang Bai to the front yard.

Wang Bai knew that Lin Xuran was a person who valued feelings, and he expressed his gratitude many times, and then got into the sedan chair and left.

After Lin Xuran watched Wang Bai's sedan leave, he did not choose to return to the inner house immediately. Instead, he said to the butler Lin Jinyuan: "Prepare the sedan chair, I want to go to the Li Mansion!"

When Lin Jinyuan learned that Lin Junran was going out, he immediately arranged for the arrangement and arranged for the sedan chairman and guard to go to the Li Mansion with Lin Junran.

Li Chunfang also lives in Xiaoyongfang, only three alleys away from Lin Mansion, so the sedan chair arrived soon, and then the sedan chair entered the Li Mansion's mansion directly from the middle gate.

Li Chunfang has eight sons. Except for his third son who stayed in his hometown in Yangzhou, the rest settled in the capital as an official or a scholar, so he seemed to be prosperous. At this time, he also followed Li Chunfang to welcome him.

"Master Yuan Fu, I'm disturbing you!" Lin Weiran smiled and bowed when he saw Li Chunfang coming out.

The reason why I chose to come to Li Chunfang at this time was not because he was so nervous, but because he wanted to quickly form a consensus with Li Chunfang, and not to make people take advantage of loopholes because of his innocence.

Li Chunfang smiled and brought Lin Qingran into the study, but asked his eldest son to guard the door.

But the first sentence of sitting down made Lin Yanran stare straight, because Li Chunfang's first sentence was: "I released the matter of Li Tao's memorial!"

ah?
Chapter completed!