Birds of a feather flock together, and people flock together. In the same way, the kind of master you have will breed the kind of servants you have.
Zhao Junchen had met the stewards in Wen Guanliang's house before. Like Wen Guanliang, they all had the same temperament that regarded wealth as life.
As for Xu Qingyan's arrogant and domineering villain temperament, it is also in the same vein as the former Zhao Junchen. Although Zhao Junchen today has become stiff and his temperament and methods are completely different, Xu Qingyan's temper has been fixed and cannot be easily reversed. This is a
A very regrettable thing.
The same goes for Manager Li in Zhou Shangjing's mansion. Although it was just his first contact, his demeanor and movements all had some traces of Zhou Shangjing in every detail.
"Li Cheng, the steward of Lord Chief Assistant, has met Lord Zhao."
After being led to the study, Manager Li bowed to Zhao Junchen in a polite manner and said in a deep voice.
Although he came on behalf of Zhou Shangjing, he did not show any pretentiousness, and his demeanor was humble and restrained, but his eyes were half-open and half-closed, making it impossible to easily detect his mood swings.
Looking at Li Cheng's demeanor, and thinking about Xu Qingyan's usual arrogance of "the emperor is the boss, the master is second, and I am the third in the world", Zhao Junchen sighed secretly in his heart.
Comparing people with each other can be frustrating. Zhao Junchen's current talent accumulation cannot be compared with Zhou Shangjing's. The Li Cheng in front of him is just an ordinary steward in Zhou Shangjing's mansion, but when he first met, his demeanor and demeanor were already far higher.
Xu Qingyan was beside him.
While thinking secretly, Zhao Junchen said with a smile: "Manager Li, please don't be too polite. I wonder if the chief minister sent you to see me, but what's the matter?"
Li Cheng raised his head and glanced at Xu Qingyan who was waiting aside. Seeing that Zhao Junchen had no intention of letting Xu Qingyan avoid him temporarily, and knowing that Xu Qingyan was Zhao Junchen's confidant, he stopped covering up and took out a secret letter from his sleeve and handed it to him with both hands.
Gave it to Xu Qingyan who was standing aside.
After Xu Qingyan handed over the secret letter to Zhao Junchen, Li Chengcai said in a deep voice: "Master Zhao, according to my master's wishes, the situation in the temple has been decided, and all plans have been prepared, and we are ready to go.
And it’s time for you, sir, to take good care of your body and return to the temple.
"Oh?" Zhao Junchen opened the secret letter with a chuckle, looked at it carefully, and said casually: "Is it time for me to recover?"
In response to Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Li Cheng didn't say much, but just lowered his head and waited for Zhao Junchen's reply.
After Zhao Junchen read the secret letter, he looked strange and seemed to sigh vaguely.
After a long silence, Zhao Junchen slowly opened his mouth and said: "You go back and tell Mr. Chief Assistant that I am used to being idle these days, and my body and mind are also lazy, and I want to rest for a while, until half a month later,
That is to say, he will not return to the temple until the beginning of spring. During this period, various plans have been made to let the chief minister sink with him, and the two elders Huang will take care of it. Now that the plan has been decided and the preparations are complete, the next thing
, there is no difference whether you have me or not. I will just continue to hide in the back and watch the show."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Li Cheng, who had always been introverted, couldn't help but have a flash of surprise in his expression and asked: "Your Excellency, you really don't intend to come back? Now that the time has come, don't you intend to deal with His Highness the Crown Prince personally?"
Zhao Junchen waved his hand and said with a smile: "The chief minister, Mr. Huang Ge and Mr. Shen Ge are here. One more of me is not more, and one less of me is not more. It doesn't make any difference whether you participate in person or not. I can trust a few seniors who want to come.
Even without me, they will be able to handle it properly."
After Li Cheng was silent for a moment, he bowed to Zhao Junchen and said: "Since you have made up your mind, I will repay my master with your original words. I just hope that you will think twice. According to my master's wishes, I still agree at this time."
It is better to advance at the same time as to retreat."
After Li Cheng left, Zhao Junchen picked up the secret letter from Zhou Shangjing again and read it carefully.
Then, there was a sigh.
This secret letter was Zhou Shangjing reporting the progress of the plan to Zhao Junchen. It described in detail the various disasters caused by preparations for the southern tour under the auspices of Prince Zhu Hepu from the capital to Jiangnan.
To put it simply, these kinds of harms caused harm to the country and the people, and the people's losses were far higher than Zhao Junchen originally imagined - he still underestimated the wanton behavior of local officials in the Ming Dynasty.
Although the prince's party is still ignorant, in fact, due to the preparations for the southern tour and the shady actions of the local officials, the people are now complaining. Even under the persecution of the officials, many families were destroyed and people were killed.
The tragedy of displacement.
According to Zhou Shangjing's plan, such public resentment will soon converge in the capital, explode, and point the finger directly at Prince Zhu Hepu.
Although this plan was planned by Zhao Junchen himself and was one of the main promoters. Although Zhao Junchen had already been aware and prepared when he planned it, Zhao Junchen still thought of the miserable scenes among the people today.
I can't help but feel a little sad.
After all, he himself is one of the main persons responsible for causing these civil tragedies.
Although not much remains, Zhao Junchen still has some "conscience" after all.
Therefore, although I knew that if I came back at this time, I could intensify the attack on the prince's party and get some benefits afterwards, I didn't know how I should feel about the coming public grievances.
, so Zhao Junchen still subconsciously did not want to continue to participate.
"After all, my mentality is still not good. I have been mentally prepared for a long time, but when the problem comes, I still dare not face it personally. I can't be like Zhou Shangjing and others who only have interests in their eyes, but no good and evil...", just in Zhao Junchen
While thinking secretly, Xu Qingyan felt that something was wrong with Zhao Junchen's mood and asked: "Master, what are you thinking about?"
Zhao Junchen said leisurely: "I have heard a saying before that if a lion leads a group of sheep, the sheep will also develop a lion-like temperament, brave and bloodthirsty. If a sheep leads a group of lions,
Lions can also develop the temperament of sheep, which is cowardly and timid. When the two compete, a sheep led by a lion can easily defeat a lion led by a sheep."
After a pause, Zhao Junchen smiled and said: "I thought this statement was quite reasonable at first, but now it seems that a lion is a lion and a sheep is a sheep. A sheep can lead a group of lions, or a lion can lead a group of sheep."
, how can we change the nature of sheep and lions? When lions get along with sheep, sheep are destined to be eaten. It is like corrupt officials and upright officials. If an upright official leads a group of corrupt officials, he will only be punished by the corrupt officials below. On the contrary, the
If a corrupt official leads a group of honest officials, he may drag down all the honest officials below and eventually join in the corruption..." Zhao Junchen's words, the previous argument of lions and sheep, Xu Qingyan seemed to understand but not understand, but behind the argument of honest officials and corrupt officials
, but Xu Qingyan understood it very quickly.
Therefore, Xu Qingyan said of course: "This is natural. Greed is the natural desire of human beings. Although there are countless people in the world, nine out of ten people obey lust. Those who have perseverance and determination can resist the temptation of natural desires, but
There are very few, otherwise how could there be so many corrupt officials in the world?"
Hearing what Xu Qingyan said, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but be stunned.
Such philosophical words are not something Xu Qingyan can say.
Turning to look at Xu Qingyan, Zhao Junchen suddenly realized when he saw Xu Qingyan taking it for granted.
To a villain like Xu Qingyan, these seemingly profound words are just the simplest truth in their eyes.
And the simplest truth is often the most unquestionable truth, even if such truth only exists in the eyes of villains.
After shaking his head and laughing, Zhao Junchen suddenly asked: "Qingyan, how much money is available in our house now?"
Xu Qingyan calculated secretly for a moment and said: "There must be more than one million taels. Master, do you want silver?"
Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "Take out one hundred thousand taels of silver, part of which will be used to open some porridge shacks and free medical clinics in various places in Zhili in the name of 'Yue Rongfang'. If what I predict is good, then we will
Some refugees came to the capital with their families to complain. No matter out of selfishness or true intention, these refugees must be allowed to live. The other part was taken by others and traveled along the capital to Jiangnan, where Your Majesty
The southern tour passed through various places, trying to find ways to help the damaged people. This time we committed a lot of sins. Although it is a bit hypocritical, it is better to make amends if we can."
Just when Zhao Junchen, with conflicting thoughts, was planning to do something to remedy the situation to comfort his remaining conscience, Li Cheng had returned to Zhou Shangjing's house.
In the Zhou Mansion, Zhou Shangjing was not the only one. Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao were also there, and the three of them were discussing something.
After hearing Li Cheng's report, before Zhou Shangjing said anything, Shen Changmao snorted coldly and said: "What the hell is Zhao Junchen doing? If he doesn't come back when it's time to come back, and hides aside to watch the show, do you still want to do it?"
Are we going to treat a few of us as chess pieces and charge into battle for him?"
Huang Yourong smiled half-heartedly and said, "Isn't it because Junchen is afraid that if he comes back at this time and then joins us in attacking Crown Prince Zhu He, His Majesty will suspect him? Junchen is sometimes too cautious."
Shen Changmao said coldly: "If you are too irresponsible, how can you achieve success in the future?"
Zhou Shangjing sighed slowly and said softly: "That's all, with or without him, the plan will always go on. In fact, it doesn't matter if Junchen chooses to avoid it temporarily at this time. He can't disobey His Majesty now. If His Majesty forces him to support it,
Prince Zhu Hepu, we will have more resistance."
After a pause, Zhou Shangjing added: "Since Junchen only plans to watch the show, let's just let him watch the show. Let's act according to the plan."
"The first is the Metropolitan Procuratorate." Shen Changmao sneered: "The Metropolitan Procuratorate has caused us a lot of trouble since it was controlled by the prince. Now it is time to repay them."
With the final words of the three pavilion elders, the storm began in the center of the capital.
ps: Today’s first update, there will be two more updates later. The second update is being checked and will be coming soon.!