The spring season is also the peak time for people to travel, and the emperor is no exception. Emperor Jiajing, who has not yet cultivated immortality, also wants to enjoy the fun of the world.
In the twelfth year of Jiajing's reign, Xiyuan had not yet been built into an earthly fairyland, and Emperor Jiajing had not yet lived in seclusion here as an old god.
At this time, Xiyuan was a large water garden located in the west of Da Nei. Its specific use depended on the emperor's mood.
On this day, Emperor Jiajing got up for a spring outing, went boating on the "sea" in Xiyuan, and summoned a group of favored ministers to follow him on the trip.
Among the cabinet ministers were Fang Xianfu, a great scholar, and among the foreign ministers were Xia Yan, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Gu Dingchen, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, Wang Hong, the governor of the capital, Huo Tao, the censor of the left deputy capital, and Huang Zongming, the minister of the Ministry of Rites.
As for the chief assistant, Zhang Fujing, he did not attend due to illness.
Only at this time can we see the true status of ministers in the world, which has nothing to do with official position or grade.
Many ministers, such as Wang Tingxiang, rarely get an opportunity to meet the emperor at close range. For these favored ministers, it is easy to get.
There are relatively few eunuchs in the imperial court, and they are all eunuchs with relatively high levels of education, including Zhang Zuo, the eunuch who holds the seal of the ceremonial department, Dai Yong, the eunuch who serves as the ceremonial department, and Qin Fu, the eunuch who oversees the imperial horse department.
In addition, in order to show their favor and honor, a group of newly recruited Hanlin officials were also allowed to travel with the emperor, but they were relatively peripheral and difficult to get close to the emperor.
In the Imperial Poetry Competition, Master Xia Yanxia won the first prize with his song "Royal Boat Song":
"The emperor's boat is in the north, and the minister's boat is in the south. The green mountains and clouds are like jade, and the water is as blue as gold and jade.
The minister's boat is to the south, and the emperor's boat is to the north. The clouds and dragons meet at the right time, and the fish and water, the king and his ministers, will always be in harmony with each other."
Among the civil servants present, only Fang Xianfu had a higher status than Xia Yan, but Fang Xianfu's literary level was not as good as Xia Yan's.
Others with a lower status than Master Xia are either very sensible and do not steal the limelight, such as Gu Dingchen; or they are helpless in literary skills as compared to Master Xia, such as Huo Tao.
New Hanlin scholars, Chen Shu and Xiong Guo were both the Eight Talents of Jiajing, so they naturally walked together.
In the original historical time and space, Chen Shu and Tang Shunzhi represented the Eight Talents of Jiajing who entered the Imperial Academy.
But in this time and space, because of Qin Dewei's butterfly effect, it was Xiong Guo, a fellow student of Zhang's, who entered the Hanlin Academy.
After Zhang Xueshi interceded, Qin Dewei paid lip service to Xiong Guo, and then Xiong Guo stood out among the Eight Talents.
When Chen Shu saw this, he sighed: "If the eight of us can enter Hanyuan together and then go boating on the West Sea, it will be a real grand event."
Xiong Guo also sighed slightly sadly. He had a pessimistic premonition that the Eight Talents of Jiajing would become a historical term in the future.
Once upon a time, they were high-spirited and wanted to become symbols of the era like the "Seven Talents of Jian'an" and the "Ten Talents of Dali".
But all because of the appearance of one person, the Eight Talents of Jiajing were suppressed to the point where they could not lift their heads, and their anger seemed to dissipate immediately.
I have never heard that a combination that was defeated eight to one and was beaten so badly could become a symbol of the times. So what's the point of having this combination?
Therefore, now the Eight Talents of Jiajing have lost their spirit, have different thoughts, and are beginning to show signs of dispersion.
When it was almost noon, we stopped the boat and went ashore, and it was time to give the royal banquet.
At this moment, everyone suddenly discovered that Bi Yun, the admiral of Dongchang, was kneeling on the shore to greet the emperor.
The ministers didn't know what was going on, but the eunuchs in the palace knew that the emperor issued an edict yesterday to reprimand Bi Yun for his incompetence and dereliction of duty, and Bi Yun came to plead guilty.
The ministers who vaguely smelled the eunuchs' infighting wanted to have a closer look, but regretfully stayed away.
The affairs of the palace are the most secretive, and it is really inconvenient for foreign ministers like them to listen to gossip.
It's quite unfair when you think about it. Eunuchs can often watch the ministers fight among themselves, but ministers have little chance to watch the eunuchs fight among themselves.
Bi Yun fell to the ground and couldn't get up. Emperor Jiajing asked with a smile but not a smile: "Who asked Bi Yun to wait here?"
Zhang Zuo, the chief seal officer of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, said: "Bi Yun is entangled with me endlessly, and I can't do anything about it. Seeing that he really wants to apologize, let him wait here."
Hoho! The calm eunuch Qin looked at Zhang Zuo in surprise. He used to often see you and Bi Yun quarreling. Now you think about Bi Yun instead?
Emperor Jiajing asked again: "What do you think of Bi Yun?"
Zhang Zuo thought about his words and said: "It may be that he is incompetent in doing things, but it does not mean that he is unable to do things."
Emperor Jiajing seemed puzzled and said: "Why can't I understand what you mean?"
Emperor Jiajing was actually quite nostalgic. Zhang Zuonai was an old member of Prince Xing's palace and the eunuch of Conglong, so he didn't have so many scruples about what he said.
He further explained: "Take Zhang Yanling's case as an example. As far as I know, Bi Yun has secretly grasped clues to Zhang Yanling's evil plot, but he has not yet had time to initiate and make it public.
Therefore, Bi Yun may have slacked off a little, but it was not considered dereliction of duty. After all, the situation was under Dongchang's control and it was not out of control.
Besides, everything Dongchang does is confidential, and it often does things secretly, so there is no need to make everything public."
Although Zhang Zuo was helping Bi Yun, what he said was very objective and in line with the facts, making it difficult for people to find fault.
Next to him, another former member of Prince Xing's Mansion, Dai Yong, the Eunuch and Eunuch, also spoke up: "It is said that on the night of Zhang Yanling's conspiracy, Bi Yun also sent people to find key witnesses.
It's just a coincidence that this key witness was invited away by Qin Fu, and Bi Yun really can't be considered derelict in his duty."
What he said was very objective and consistent with the facts. Bi Yun did send someone to find the key figure Si Cong that night.
But Bi Yun didn't expect anyone else to pay Si Cong's attention, so he just asked Si Min to invite people in the name of relatives.
As a result, Dongchang Fanzi was outnumbered and was beaten away by several servants and followers.
Wucao! Eunuch Qin looked at Dai Yong in surprise again. You, Dai, usually talk and laugh with us, but now you actually speak for Bi Yun!
Two old people from the feudal dynasty helped Bi Yun solve the problem together, and what they said was very reasonable. Emperor Jiajing was silent.
Zhang Zuo, the chief seal officer of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, advised again: "So I think that in terms of fairness, Bi Yun only strives for merit and does not compete with Qin Fu in Zhang Yanling's case. There is a fault, but it does not need to be regarded as a fault."
There is also a subtext that means that even without Qin Fu taking action, Bi Yun has already made preparations and can still handle the matter.
It's just that Bi Yun was unlucky and was taken one step ahead by Qin Fu.
Thinking further, if Bi Yun is just unlucky, who is the lucky one?
The following little eunuch looked at Qin Fu secretly, and anyone with ears could tell who Zhang Zuo was hinting at.
A clever, capable, and extremely efficient hero became the one with better luck among the two people who both wanted to make meritorious deeds.
I have learned, I have learned. It seems that Patriarch Zhang did not belittle anyone, but these few sentences really downplayed the achievements of Eunuch Qin.
Eunuch Qin sighed secretly, why is it so difficult to change his career?
Sure enough, everything about lying down and winning is all fake and just a joke in a storybook. In reality, you still have to rely on yourself in the end.
