In Shangxian Tower, while Zhao Junchen was tasting various delicacies, he did not know that something that would affect his life in a certain way was happening inadvertently.
…………
In the palace, in the Yangxin Hall, Emperor Deqing was dealing with court affairs, but his expression was a little absent-minded, as if he was thinking about other things.
Today's situation between the government and the opposition is relatively stable, and among the things that can affect Emperor Deqing's mind, apart from the matter of Prince Zhu and Yu leaving the capital to handle the case, there are only two major factions in the court, Zhao Junchen and Huang Yourong.
There was fierce party fighting.
And what Emperor Deqing is thinking about right now is the party dispute between Zhao Junchen and Huang Yourong!
Zhao Junchen controlled the three major yamen of the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Industry, and the West Factory, and Huang Yourong was one of the cabinet ministers in the court. They were all important figures in the court. This party struggle between the two people,
It will also inevitably bring about great changes in the situation between the government and the opposition. Therefore, not only Emperor Deqing is paying attention, but now all interested people in the government and the opposition are paying close attention and do not dare to miss any changes during the period.
But Emperor Deqing's perspective on this matter was different from others.
Emperor Deqing was more concerned about the changes in Zhao Junchen during this time.
Speaking of which, since Zhao Junchen went to Lu'an Prefecture for disaster relief and returned to the capital, he has experienced such changes that even Emperor Deqing found it incredible.
And such changes can be said to be both good and bad.
The good thing is that Zhao Junchen has become more capable of doing things and is better able to figure out Emperor Deqing's wishes. Under Zhao Junchen's auspices, not only the money turnover of the Ministry of Revenue and the inner treasury has become increasingly abundant, which greatly satisfies Deqing.
Emperor Qing was very happy with his achievements, extravagant and lustful, and many things did not require Emperor Deqing's initiative. Zhao Junchen had already prepared them in advance. In this way, Emperor Deqing was naturally very satisfied.
But the bad thing is that many of Zhao Junchen's words and deeds during this period often exceeded Emperor Deqing's expectations, such as the suppression and counterattack against the Metropolitan Procuratorate's Yamen a few days ago, and now he
He took the initiative to provoke a party dispute with Huang Yourong. Although Zhao Junchen would have a lot of legitimate reasons to convince Emperor Deqing every time, he still gave Emperor Deqing a feeling that it was difficult to control.
Therefore, Emperor Deqing's mood was quite complicated regarding Zhao Junchen today. He felt that he could not do without Zhao Junchen more and more, and at the same time he began to be more and more wary of Zhao Junchen.
…………
However, this time Zhao Junchen and Huang Yourong were able to gain the upper hand in the party dispute. While it surprised many people, it also made Emperor Deqing understand many things - that is, unknowingly, today's
Although Zhao Junchen is not yet a cabinet minister, his power and influence in the government and the public is no less than that of a cabinet minister.
After accepting this reality, Emperor Deqing actually found it somewhat acceptable for Zhao Junchen to gradually escape from his control.
After all, even the emperor cannot completely control a court official.
In fact, the attitude of emperors towards their ministers also changed constantly with the status of their ministers.
For the court officials below the cabinet elder, Emperor Deqing could not care about their inner thoughts, could forcibly control their words and deeds, and could abandon them as soon as he was summoned.
However, those elders in the court who had a solid foundation and had many disciples all over the world were by no means comparable to ordinary ministers. They already had the confidence to bargain with the emperor. Therefore, while Emperor Deqing tried his best to control them, he also needed to win over them as much as possible.
them.
But now Zhao Junchen obviously has a power and influence comparable to that of the court elder. But it made Emperor Deqing feel that his attitude towards Zhao Junchen also needed to change.
After all, the current Emperor Deqing is still inseparable from Zhao Junchen. If he wants to continue to control Zhao Junchen, if he just asks for it by force, it will only arouse Zhao Junchen's dissatisfaction, but he also needs to give Zhao Junchen more sweetness.
Only then can Zhao Junchen continue to serve Emperor Deqing willingly!
However, Emperor Deqing was a little troubled by how to win over Zhao Junchen and how to give him favors.
After all, Zhao Junchen is now the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Superintendent of the West Factory, and is also in charge of the internal transportation warehouse at a young age. If he is given any more authority, I am afraid it will only cause dissatisfaction between the government and the opposition, but it will not be a big deal.
suitable.
And if some false titles and honors are given to Zhao Junchen, not to mention that Zhao Junchen's qualifications and reputation are too shallow to be promoted to a noble title, and those false titles are just false after all, and they may not be able to achieve the win-win effect.
In this way, Emperor Deqing couldn't help but feel a little troubled when he couldn't think of an effective way, and subconsciously frowned slightly.
While Emperor Deqing was deep in thought, a piece of paper in his hand suddenly caught Emperor Deqing's attention.
This is the story that Chang Hong, the daughter of Zheng Guogong Chang Wei, planned to marry Zhang Mu, the son of Ning Guogong Zhang Dai, so Zheng Guogong and Ning Guogong jointly submitted a memorial to request Emperor Deqing to grant the marriage.
Although the two families of Zheng Guogong and Ning Guogong can be regarded as nobles for generations, they have not produced any outstanding figures in recent generations, and their influence in the government and the public has gradually faded. Therefore, Emperor Deqing did not regard the marriage of these two families.
Mind you, I just approved it casually.
However, this document asking Emperor Deqing to grant a marriage actually provided Emperor Deqing with a way to win over Zhao Junchen!
That is, granting marriage to Zhao Junchen!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After thinking of a way, Emperor Deqing couldn't help but perked up, turned to the eunuch Zhang De next to him and asked: "Speaking of which, how old is Zhao Junchen now?"
When Emperor Deqing asked, Zhang De naturally did not dare to be negligent and quickly replied: "Reporting to your majesty, Zhao Shangshu is extremely talented and is loved by your majesty. Although he is already the second-rank minister in the court, he is still young.
, his actual age seems to be only twenty-four years old."
While replying, Zhang De secretly glanced at Emperor Deqing, wondering why Emperor Deqing suddenly asked this question.
"He is already twenty-four years old... These days go by so fast. I remember that when he entered the court, he was not yet twenty years old, but now it has been four or five years..." Emperor Deqing Ruo
He nodded thoughtfully and sighed slowly: "For imperial officials, it is certainly too young to become the Minister of Household Affairs at the age of twenty-four, and to be a second-rank official in the imperial court, but if it is based on marriage,
For me, it is too late to be married at the age of twenty-four."
"Your Majesty, what you are saying is that among the common people, many men get married when they are fifteen or sixteen years old. As for the noble sons in the court, although most of them will be later, they will all marry before the age of twenty.
"But Zhao Shangshu still hasn't married yet, and he doesn't even have a concubine, so there is indeed something wrong." Zhang De agreed.
While thinking secretly, Emperor Deqing asked again: "Which family is Zhao Aiqing engaged to?"
At this point, Zhang De vaguely understood what Emperor Deqing meant, and said quickly: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, Zhao Shangshu has not been engaged to anyone, but I don't know which young lady will."
I am so lucky to be able to marry a young talent like Zhao Shangshu."
"That's right..." Emperor Deqing nodded slowly.
…………
In fact, both Emperor Deqing and eunuch Zhang De knew the reason why Zhao Junchen was unable to get married, but at this time, they did not say it clearly.
In this era, when a man marries a woman, the most important thing in marriage is "well-matched". Although Zhao Junchen came from a bad background, he became a second-rank official in the imperial court at a young age and was deeply loved by Deqing.
The emperor's favor seemed to have a bright future, so among the government and the public, the only families who were qualified to marry Zhao Junchen were the nobles of the Ming Dynasty and some powerful ministers in the temple.
However, Zhao Junchen's reputation among the government and the public was too bad, and his hostile relationship with Prince Zhu Heyu was well known to everyone. Those who were qualified to marry Zhao Junchen, and the principals in the family were all
As a person with a discerning eye, he can naturally understand that although Zhao Junchen is in great glory now, when Prince Zhu Heyu ascends the throne in the future, he is afraid that Zhao Junchen will be executed.
Therefore, in order to avoid being implicated in the future, these wealthy families who are qualified to marry Zhao Junchen will naturally not marry Zhao Junchen for temporary gain.
As a result, it also caused the embarrassing situation that although Zhao Junchen was extremely powerful in the court, he was still unable to get married. The qualified wealthy families were unwilling to marry him, but the small family who was willing to marry Zhao Junchen
households, but often lack the qualifications.
Therefore, although Zhao Junchen is now twenty-four years old and has already reached the marriageable age in this era, he still has not gotten married, which is a strange thing in the temple.
…………
On the other side, thinking about the reasons why Zhao Junchen was unable to get married, Emperor Deqing pondered for a moment and finally said: "Yes, Zhao Aiqing is not young anymore. Although he is not in a hurry, after all, he is a member of the imperial court.
Minister, I am a little anxious for him. There are many distinguished families in the court now, and there are probably many women of the right age. Zhang De, go and make a list for me. If you can take the opportunity to promote a good marriage,
It’s quite a wonderful thing.”
Zhang Deying said with a smile: "Your Majesty, you are planning to grant a marriage to Zhao Shangshu. It is such a great honor. I think that when Zhao Shangshu knows about it, he will definitely be grateful to you."
Emperor Deqing twisted his beard and smiled and said: "This is natural."
Having said that, Emperor Deqing's eyes showed deep thought.
Emperor Deqing also needed to carefully choose which meritorious family to marry Zhao Junchen, which would allow Zhao Junchen to feel the emperor's favor without excessively increasing Zhao Junchen's power and influence.
Different from the previous marriage between Zheng Guogong and Ning Guogong, this matter needs to be carefully considered.