In the past two months, there have been basically no major personnel changes in the court. It's not that Zhu Si didn't want to make adjustments, but that he didn't know how to make adjustments.
"...Your Majesty, there has been no news from Mr. Zhu until now. Now the autumn grain is about to be put into storage. Several projects supervised by Uncle Yutian before Anlu have been basically completed. Uncle Yutian is also bedridden due to overwork. Recently,
His son Jiang Rong will be responsible for everything..."
Originally Jiang Rong was also Zhu Hao's disciple and should have gone to sea with his master.
But Zhu Hao didn't use Jiang Rong. Considering that Jiang Lun's end was approaching, Zhu Hao didn't want to make too many changes to Jiang Lun. On Tang Yin, Zhu Hao spent a lot of energy, but found that many things would eventually change.
It is difficult for man to defeat God.
Zhu Si yawned and looked listless, and asked: "Is there no news of any ships returning and bringing them back overseas? There are no dead people or corpses during this trip, let alone whether the fairy grass has been found.
So what’s the point of going to sea?”
Zhang Zuo didn't know how to answer for a while.
"Forget it, when he left, he wanted to stay but couldn't, so let him go... I wonder if he can come back before the end of the year?"
Zhu Si was originally very confident about Zhu Hao's return years ago, but now he has become hesitant.
Perhaps even Zhu Si felt that Zhu Hao no longer had the intention to work for him. It seemed that he, the emperor, could not attract Zhu Hao back with his fame and fortune.
…
…
The morning was calm and calm.
Jia Yong is about to leave the cabinet. He has entrusted all the errands and is just waiting for the approval of his resignation letter.
Zhu Si had previously rejected Jia Yong's resignation in order to protect the face of the so-called emperor and ministers, but then he deliberately asked Zhang Zuo to find fault with Jia Yong in some matters, and Zhang Cong immediately gathered the censor Yan Guan Shen.
Impeach Jia Yong for exercising power, especially causing trouble for Jia Yong regarding the budget at the beginning of the year.
Jia Yong was wronged.
He has no say in the court at all, and the draft plan has been restricted by several other people. In addition, he is a member of the ritual guardian sect, and now Zhang Cong is in power in the court, so he only has the name of a cabinet minister.
But he does not have the power that a cabinet minister should have.
Nowadays, the call for Zhang Cong to join the cabinet is getting louder and louder. Jia Yong knows that he is leaving the cabinet to make way for Zhang Cong.
Liu Chun, another important minister in the cabinet, also wants to resign recently.
Liu Chun simply didn’t want to do it anymore.
The emperor did not want to drive him away, and he did not encounter any big pressure. On the contrary, he was the best mediator between Fei Hong and Yang Yiqing. With him in the cabinet, the working atmosphere seemed much more harmonious, but even so, he was exhausted physically and mentally.
He was tired, maybe his old friend Sun Jiao had set a bad example for him, and he now wanted to go back to his hometown to live out his old life.
He was also afraid that he would die in office.
"Inzhong, you can't leave."
On this day, Fei Hong knew that Liu Chun had prepared a memorial to resign, and came to dissuade him. At this time, the two of them were just about to return to their respective homes. Recently, Liu Chun was leaving Wenyuan Pavilion earlier and earlier.
Fei Hong could tell that Liu Chun really wanted to give up his job.
Liu Chun smiled bitterly and said: "Originally, I stayed in the cabinet because I wanted to occupy a position for Jingdao. I don't care whether Jingdao's work is popular with others. At least in my heart, he is capable of taking on this important task. But now there is no news from him.
Why should I bother myself?"
"well……"
Fei Hong sighed.
Liu Chun spoke so straightforwardly, clearly telling him that he had no idea about being the chief assistant.
Fei Hong originally wanted to let Liu Chun stay on the grounds that he would retire in a year or two to free up Liu Chun's position as chief assistant, but now he could not say this.
Liu Cundao: "But before Jingdao left, I got some news from him."
"I wonder what the news is?"
Fei Hong was surprised.
Before Zhu Jingdao left, he actually sent you a message?
Have you notified the emperor?
Liu Chun smiled and said: "Jingdao said that he would go to sea for at least half a year, because it would take nearly three months to go, and it would take a similar amount of time to come back. As for what he should do after he goes to sea, it depends on whether the other side of the sea is suitable for taking root.
I don’t understand what he means. The overseas countries are all barbaric places, so why do you want to stay there for so long?”
Fei Hong frowned after hearing this, but did not object or agree.
Liu Chun added: "But he also told me that there is no need to insist on anything, let everything take its course, and the court will let it develop in the direction it should, and I will not interfere with it."
"What direction?" Fei Hong asked.
He actually wanted to know Zhu Hao's prediction for the future direction of the court.
Liu Chun smiled brightly and said: "He only said that Zhang Bingyong will join the cabinet and may become the first assistant in the future. I don't know why he has such an idea. But I guess that without Jingdao's help, His Majesty,
I can only reuse Zhang Bingyong, that’s probably what I mean.”
…
…
Zhang Cong has indeed been working hard to get himself into the cabinet recently.
Originally, he was unwilling to enter the cabinet before Zhu Hao. He felt that if he wanted to enter the cabinet, he had to wait for Zhu Hao to enter first. He would deal with Zhu Hao like a successor, so that he could use his power secretly.
If he entered the cabinet first, he would become a target. Out of his trust in Zhu Hao, the emperor would mercilessly drive him away and give up his position as chief minister to Zhu Hao.
But now Zhu Hao has taken the initiative to withdraw from the competition, and there has been no news since he moved south. He seems to have no interest in high-ranking officials and generous salaries. He immediately understood that his opportunity had come, and the method Zhang Cong used was to let his rival Gui E come out and run.
, attracted everyone's attention to him, thinking that Gui E wanted to rise to power, while he hid behind the scenes and secretly exerted his strength.
"...I have asked some people in the Ministry of Rites for their opinions, and Xi Shangshu has made it clear that he will be on your side."
Gui E acted as Zhang Cong's pawn.
This role was previously held by Huo Tao, but Gui E was not in Beijing at that time. Now that Gui E is back, Huo Tao and Fang Xianfu have not fully integrated into Zhang Cong's inner circle. In addition, they are not as smart as Gui E, so almost everything is done by Zhang Cong.
Cong always looks to Gui E for help.
Zhang Cong thought for a while and asked: "Is there still no news about Zhu Jingdao?"
"It's the same as before. It was said that he took many civilians out to sea, and there were actually women on board. Those who didn't know it thought he was going to settle overseas... I don't know what his purpose was, and there was no news from His Majesty's side. It seems
It seems that His Majesty still supports his plan to go to sea!"
Zhu Si knew about Zhu Hao's yearning for overseas places, but he still didn't understand why Zhu Hao would give up his comfortable life and take great risks to go to sea. When it comes to people like Zhang Cong and Gui E, he still doesn't understand why Zhu Hao wants to
What did you do?
Zhang Cong asked: "Didn't the local government come forward to stop it?"
Gui E shook his head: "How to stop it? Considering Zhu Jingdao's status in His Majesty's mind, as well as his status as Hanlin bachelor and Nanjing Ministry of Industry Minister, as well as his authority to govern the Jinyi Guards and the Offshore Guards, who dares to jump out?
court death?
"Bingyong, you don't have to worry. Since he has chosen to go to sea, he means that he has no thoughts about joining the cabinet. It's better to join the cabinet earlier than we discussed before, and we can train more trusted subordinates in the future and hold him firmly!
Now in the DPRK, no one is firmly on his side, so we can arrange everything calmly!"
…
…
Zhang Cong began to show off in front of the emperor, especially in helping the emperor make money, and helped Zhu Si solve several problems one after another.
The biggest trouble lies in the emperor's management of money and food in the Ministry of Household Affairs. Zhang Cong now plays the role of the emperor's minion. Because Zhu Si basically does not go to court now and is extremely slack in government affairs, so everyone in the Ministry of Household Affairs can delay it as much as possible, so Zhang Cong
Cong always intervened as the emperor's special envoy.
Zhang Cong also knew that he was not the direct superior of the Ministry of Revenue. Going to the Ministry of Revenue was not to give a direct order, but to put pressure on the officials by conveying the emperor's attitude to let people know his position in the emperor's mind and slowly adapt to his role alone.
The status of the head of civil servants above ten thousand people.
Now it seems that even Zhang Cong doesn't pay attention to several cabinet bachelors.
As the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, Zhang Zuo was the most powerful person around the emperor at the moment. Zhang Zuo could have stopped Zhang Cong from doing this, but he did not step forward. On the contrary, he continued to fuel the fire behind the scenes. It is not that Zhang Zuo thought this person was easy to control... but...
After Zhu Hao left, Zhang Zuo was unable to help the emperor handle government affairs, so he had to rely on Zhang Cong.
As a result, the DPRK and the Central Government increasingly impeached Zhang Cong for violating his authority.
Originally, Zhang Zuo wanted to suppress public opinion, but later he found that the ministers in the court did not buy it at all, especially the imperial officials. They could not attack the emperor for his misbehavior, so they attacked Zhang Cong, who represented the emperor.
When Zhang Zuo presented a pile of memorials to Zhu Si, he was prepared to be punished.
Zhu Si did not take it seriously, and said coldly: "It actually caused such a big backlash, which shows that Bachelor Zhang is quite good at doing things, not bad."
Zhang Zuo probably knew that Zhu Si didn't like those officials who made irresponsible remarks, or some of the ideas that Zhu Hao had instilled before, that the emperor should artificially create conflicts in the court, so that the ministers would be separated and factions would fight.
The situation is intertwined with each other, and only in this way can the emperor reap the benefits.
When Zhu Si discovered that Zhang Cong possessed Zhu Hao's temperament in this regard, he felt that this was a useful talent.
Zhang Zuodao: "According to what Yan Guan reported, when Zhang Xueshi came to meet the court officials, he often put pressure on the court officials in the name of Your Majesty. Or because of this, the court did not know that Your Majesty was there, but only Zhang Xueshi was known... So it is not
As a prime minister, I do the things of a prime minister."
Zhu Si shook his head and said: "Is it really unacceptable that the Ming Dynasty had multiple prime ministers?"
"this……"
Zhang Zuo never expected that his master's thoughts were different from others.
Other emperors were afraid that their ministers would have too much power and tried every means to stop it, but Zhu Si did the opposite. Perhaps the most suitable candidate for prime minister in his mind was Zhu Hao?
It was precisely because Zhu Si thought about making Zhu Hao the prime minister more than once that he felt that it was not impossible to let others practice his skills.
"Okay, there is no need to tell me if Academician Zhang does something illegal in the future, unless he has actually harmed my interests. Let's talk about it then."
Zhu Si continued to yawn, "Didn't you say that a few Taoist priests are going to enter the palace recently? Where are the immortals from Longhu Mountain? Also, the Zhaijiao ceremony has been temporarily suspended. We will send people to invite some Taoist priests to come back... Oh, right.
Yes, Taoist nun can do it too..."
The emperor suddenly mentioned the Taoist nun, and Zhang Zuo immediately reminded: "Your Majesty, there is also news that the eldest princess has gone to sea with Mr. Zhu!"
"Didn't you already know that?"
Zhu Si was not surprised at all.
He would be surprised if his sister didn't follow Zhu Hao.
Zhang Zuodao: "Now there is a lot of criticism from the DPRK and China about this."
"If you criticize, just criticize... Oh, no, we can't give them free advantage. Whoever dares to make irresponsible remarks about my family affairs in the future will be arrested by the factory guards and put in the sky jail for trial. Humph, I am worried that no one will give me money.
, whoever dares to offend the royal majesty, let him know the consequences of doing so!"