The two queen mothers finished playing mahjong, had lunch, and enjoyed singing and dancing for a while. The Double Ninth Festival Autumn Appreciation program was over. Zhu Yijun served the queen mothers and returned to the inner palace.
The courtiers saw the emperor off and came down the mountain in twos and threes to leave the palace. The enthusiasm of the two newly appointed earls had not dissipated, and there was still a circle of people around them, making various dinner appointments and building relationships.
Zhang Juzheng walked to the crowd surrounding Li Chengliang and said loudly: "Uncle Ning Yuan is coming with me."
Although the earl had already surpassed the rank, when Zhang Juzheng called out, no one around him thought it was strange. After hearing this, Li Chengliang quickly agreed with a smile on his face and followed Zhang Juzheng down the mountain.
Zhang Juzheng led him into Wenyuan Pavilion, said a few polite words, and asked him to sit and wait for him in the reception room for a while.
Li Chengliang was admiring the calligraphy on the wall in the reception room. A middle secretary of the cabinet came in, made tea for him, and put a copy of the imperial newspaper beside the tea cup. He thought to himself: "You should slowly understand it during this study time."
Li Chengliang waited and walked around the room. The newspapers were all torn up, and Zhang Juzheng did not show up. Seeing that it was dusk, he walked to the door and looked around, and saw that people were still coming and going in Yuan Fu's mortgage room.
Although Zhang Juzheng was sending documents or making memorials, he never showed any intention of showing up.
Li Chengliang came to Beijing before and often went to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household to file lawsuits over money and grain. He had encountered all kinds of civil servants. But because he was broad-minded and familiar, he had never sat on the bench for such a long time. He did not expect to be dismissed today.
Zhang Juzheng is left hanging here.
He was a little angry at first, thinking that when I went to your house to give gifts before, Zhang Jiangling was not so arrogant. Now that I am an earl, do you still want to embarrass me?
While he was complaining, the nerves that had been disturbed by the knighthood in the past few days suddenly got on the line. Li Chengliang took a sharp breath and calmed down completely from the excitement. Then he recalled his publicity these days, and his forehead
Beads of sweat broke out.
He calmed down, walked back to the chair, sat down, and drank the cold tea. He put his hands on his knees, sat upright like a student, closed his eyes slightly, and calmed down.
After waiting for less than a stick of incense, Zhongshu came in and gave him a cup of tea. Li Chengliang thanked him and was about to drink it when he heard a hearty laugh at the door. Zhang Juzheng came in and said: "Let me
Uncle Ning Yuan has been waiting for a long time. It is my fault, please forgive me!"
Li Chengliang already knew the importance at this time, and hurriedly straightened the earl's pheasant tail beam crown, lifted the front of Qilin Buzi's court uniform, knelt down with a plop and said: "General Soldier of Liaodong, Li Chengliang pays homage to the prime minister!" He bent down and kowtowed.
Zhang Juzheng took a step forward, stopped him and said: "Uncle Ning Yuan, please stand up. You can't disturb the national etiquette." Although his arms were strong, Li Chengliang's head was still knocked firmly to the ground.
Zhang Juzheng gave him another tug, and Li Chengliang used his strength to get up. Zhang Juzheng asked him to sit on the front seat, but Li Chengliang dared. Finally, Zhang Juzheng suggested that he sit with the east and west facing away. Li Chengliang didn't even dare to sit on the east side, so he let Zhang Juzheng sit on the east side.
Already.
When Zhang Juzheng saw that he finally realized what he was doing, he thought to himself that this is what I need to help you with, otherwise who would care about your life or death.
The two exchanged some polite words, and Zhang Juzheng asked: "What Ning Yuanbo said this morning about the Jurchens of the Hezhe tribe, why is it not found in the Liaodong memorial?"
After hearing this, Li Chengliang apologized and said: "This is Chengliang's negligence. Because the Hezhe tribe is far away from Liaodong, and there are Haixi and other Jurchen tribes in the middle, Chengliang did not pay attention to it before and did not report it to the court. Please forgive me.
crime."
Zhang Juzheng listened and said coldly: "But you replied to the emperor and said, 'The emperor's words went straight to the core of Liao affairs'. How can this be explained by an 'oversight'? Then you used big words to deceive the emperor. What's your intention?"
Can I ask at this time?"
Li Chengliang had talked with Zhang Juzheng before, and Zhang Juzheng always encouraged him. When receiving his New Year's gift, he was even more gentle and approachable.
Li Chengliang never expected that Zhang Juzheng would reveal his hidden thoughts in just a few words today, and it was only then that he understood his rhetoric.
After listening to Zhang Juzheng's heart-wrenching questions, sweat poured down his face. He stammered, "I see it is so, Mr. Xiang. Cheng Liang does have some selfish motives, or he prides himself on his own affairs in Liao Dynasty, and his selfish motives are to protect his family."
That’s all. But I have no second thoughts about the imperial court! I have absolutely no second thoughts!”
Zhang Juzheng chuckled and said: "If you have a disobedient heart, or even do something to support the bandits, all the good and bad people in your family will have met in the underworld by now. You have not seen the leaders of Li Huan, Yang Bing and others.
Are they superior? They are all marquis and earls who hold world certificates and retire from the country. How does Ning Yuan compare to them? "
After hearing this, Li Chengliang couldn't sit still. Seeing that there was no one in the room, he knelt down again and said: "Chengliang regrets it so much! I just wonder how the Sacred Heart is now? If the emperor is angry, please ask the prime minister to save Chengliang."
One life! I will repay it by holding a ring of grass in my mouth!"
Although Zhang Juzheng reprimanded Li Chengliang, he would never let him kneel down and tell others the truth. Seeing that he was so frightened, he still asked him to get up and sit on his original chair.
Li Chengliang really regretted it at this time. These days, he was floating in the clouds and always felt that he was an indispensable pillar of the imperial court in Liaodong. The matter of the Hezhe Ministry was not as serious as he said, but in order to consolidate the Li family's power in Liaodong
Status is really exaggerated in words.
Now after being exposed by Zhang Juzheng, Li Chengliang knew his little plan, and the superiors had a clear understanding of it. Rather than offending Liu Yingjie, Zhang Juzheng and others, what he was more afraid of at this moment was that the emperor would have opinions about him.
When he heard the emperor say something like "Liaodong has been operating for many years" today, it didn't sound like he was praising military generals and honorable ministers.
Now comparing it with Zhang Juzheng's words, is it possible that the emperor would regard him as a general figure like a military governor?
If the emperor really thought so, Li Chengliang could only hang himself at this time, or he might be able to keep the Li family intact. But he didn't dare to think about it, and he still had a chance to guess, so he asked Zhang Juzheng "How is the Sacred Heart?"
Zhang Juzheng was so frightened that his tone of voice changed. He thought it was better to say it. He comforted him with gentle words: "Uncle Ning Yuan, don't be so frightened. The emperor once told me about the method of selecting talents, saying, 'Filial piety is the first, and it depends on the heart.
If you don't look at things, there will be no filial son in the world; if you look at things without looking at your heart, if you look at things without looking at your heart, there will be no good people in the world.'"
"As our ministers, of course we must be loyal to the Emperor. But if we are all loyal, why are there still those who are convicted? Before the emperor strikes with thunder, he does not first see what you say, but what matters is what you do. Uncle Ning Yuan understands this.
Already?"
Li Chengliang took a deep breath and nodded to indicate understanding.
Zhang Juzheng continued: "Today, the emperor has made it clear that he wants to return Liaodong to the land. Ning Yuanbo will make the troops in Liaodong the focus of the Liaodong strategy. Your great deeds and great contributions are yet to come. If the emperor and the court
If I don't believe you, how can I give you a chance? The emperor's verbal hints are just to beat you, lest you make mistakes."
After Li Chengliang heard this, his heart settled in his stomach. Zhang Juzheng said again: "Although the emperor is so kind and does not care about your thoughts, I have to remind you. First, I want to keep a wise and brave general for the court.
Seed; both of them also want you to show your stance."
After hearing this, Li Chengliang wiped his sweat and said: "No matter what the Prime Minister orders, Cheng Liang will obey everything."
Zhang Juzheng said: "The Nanyuan Martial Arts School is about to start. Why doesn't your son come to register and report? This is one."
After hearing this, Li Chengliang smacked his thigh in annoyance. His eldest son, Li Rusong, was credited with blocking Wang Gao's army and killing the powerful Tartar general; his second son, Li Rubai, was credited with seizing Wang Gao's main force and leading the army to encircle him.
Both of these merits promoted more than two levels, so the Li family did not take the grace of using one level after graduating from martial arts seriously.
Moreover, Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong Army, held all the important positions of his relatives or relatives. Li Rusong was like a prince, with his own team. If he left in one or two years, Li Chengliang would be afraid of other changes.
He never thought that the emperor's purpose in establishing martial arts was to use martial arts to disperse the generals and disrupt the use of the main generals. To put it bluntly, Li Rusong and Li Rubai should have come to Beijing to report long ago.
, as a hostage!
But no one in the Li family saw this. Instead, they all stayed in Liaodong and continued to be around Li Chengliang. If Zhang Juzheng didn't wake up today, the disaster of his Li family was really about to happen.
Li Rusong had already put aside the excitement of being awarded the title of earl outside the Kingdom of Java, and had already fallen in love with Zhang Juzheng in his heart. After solemnly stating that he wanted his two sons to come to Beijing immediately, he asked Zhang Juzheng what else he needed to do.
Zhang Juzheng saw him on the road and suggested again: "Previously, your family accounted for most of the business in Liaodong. After the reform of Liaodong begins, the court will definitely give priority to the protection of soldiers, horses, wages, and money, and you don't have to bear this stigma anymore - tomorrow you will
Go find Zhang Jing and hand over all these business affairs."
"In addition, converting the land back to the countryside requires land, land reclamation, seed farming and cattle farming, etc. It also requires old farmers to teach the Jurchens to engage in farming. Your family also has a lot of these - you don't have to donate them all, but you shouldn't leave too many more than the Earl's family in Beijing.
."
"After doing these few things, the emperor will be happy. The world certificate may not be obtained by taking the first-level skill on the battlefield. Sometimes, it is not difficult to cooperate with the emperor's plans and get the holy family. This world certificate is not difficult to achieve. How successful was Qi Jiguang in fighting the Japanese?
How old are you? Why did I become a knight with you? - With your intelligence, there is no need for me to be verbose."