After returning to Xiyuan, Zhu Youxiao's face did not become too good-looking.

Sitting on the chair for a long time without moving, Zhu Youxiao could only show a wry smile in the end.

I thought I would be able to hold on for at least a while, but who would have thought that I wouldn't be able to hold on to it in such a short time. In such a short period of time, the courtiers actually divided into factions again.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao had already imagined this, they had divided the factions so early, he might have been surprised, but it would definitely not be like this.

The reason why it is like this is because there are some things that are beyond Zhu Youxiao's control. That's how these courtiers divide their factions, or how they form their own parties.

In Zhu Youxiao's eyes, Sun Chengzong should be with Han Yi, Xu Guangqi should be with Yu Maoheng, this is his original arrangement.

Now that they're doing this, they're completely messing up their own setup, maybe they're doing it on purpose.

But whether they did it on purpose or really did it, Zhu Youxiao had no choice, he needed to recognize this matter, even if he wanted to adjust it afterwards, he also needed to change directions, instead of participating stiffly.

"Emperor, the queen is here." Chen Hong came to Zhu Youxiao's side and bowed down and said.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Let her in." ”

After saying that, he rubbed his stiff face, trying to make the whole person feel gentler.

After a short time, Empress Zhang walked in from the outside, came straight to Zhu Youxiao's side, bent down lightly and said, "See Your Majesty, concubine." ”

Glancing at the smiling Empress Zhang, Zhu Youxiao's sorrow just now had disappeared, and a smile appeared on his face.

He came straight to Empress Zhang, stretched out his hand to take Empress Zhang's hand, and said with a smile: "Is there something wrong with Baozhu coming over?" ”

Although Zhu Youxiao and Empress Zhang have a good relationship and get along naturally in private, there are rules in the palace after all, and not everyone can come indiscriminately.

Not even an emperor, let alone an empress.

Under such circumstances, Empress Zhang basically didn't come here much. Even if she wanted to see Zhu Youxiao, she would wait until Zhu Youxiao passed, or send someone over to spread the word, instead of running directly to find Zhu Youxiao.

If you come directly to the dormitory, this situation generally happens when Zhu Youxiao is unwell or has any problems, and Empress Zhang will come over to take care of it personally.

or Zhu Youxiao asked Empress Zhang to come over; Or the last one, Empress Zhang may have something urgent to solve with Zhu Youxiao.

Judging by the current situation, it should be the last one, because the first two cases do not exist.

It is basically impossible to say that he wants to see Zhu Youxiao, because Zhu Youxiao spent the night at Empress Zhang's last night.

Seeing Empress Zhang's distracted appearance, Zhu Youxiao knew that she was in trouble, so he pulled her inside, and asked with a smile as he walked, "What's the trouble with Baozhu?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, it's a matter of the concubine's father." Empress Zhang came back to her senses and said cautiously.

Then she asked with some hesitation: "Your Majesty, can you spare the concubine's father's errand?" ”

After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao was stunned for a moment, and asked with a little concern on his face: "But is there anything wrong with the national master?" Did the people below do something that made the country unhappy? You and I will promise to punish them severely. ”

Empress Zhang was a little helpless, and she didn't know if His Majesty in front of her was really pretending to be stupid, or if she really didn't know.

During this period of time, my father's life was not easy, the struggle in the Internal Affairs Office was very fierce, and everyone had their own group of people to support them.

Needless to say, Wang An brought a bunch of people from the palace to the Internal Affairs Office; The other eunuch Fang Zhenghua is not something to mess with.

Although they are nominally subordinates of their father, they have to give them face, after all, these two people are from the palace.

In addition to Wang An and Fang Zhenghua, there is also a civil official Zhu Tongmeng, who has the support of the entire civil official group.

This is nothing, the main thing is that the people are in charge of the Inspectorate, and the father can't be offended.

And Zhu Tongmeng, a little black old man, looks like he doesn't eat oil and salt, staring here and there all day long, as if he wants to find out everyone's mistakes anytime and anywhere.

The most important thing is that this Zhu Tongmeng keeps a close eye on his father, making his father seem to have committed a crime.

In addition to Zhu Tongmeng, there is also a man named Hu Fei. This person didn't know where he came from, so he somehow set up an audit department, and he had already taken over all the contacts with the businessman, so that his father couldn't manage anything.

In his father's words, he is now a puppet in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he has been set aside by everyone.

The father was wronged, so he naturally came to himself as the queen, hoping that his daughter could help him.

But in this matter, what right can Empress Zhang have? You can't just run and tell them to listen to your father, can you?

This is not what a queen should do, not to mention that Queen Zhang also feels that this is inappropriate.

From the very beginning, Empress Zhang didn't want her father to go to the Internal Affairs Office, but her father had to go.

Anyway, it didn't go well, in Queen Zhang's opinion, my father might as well go home obediently, which is a very good choice.

Regarding what happened to Zhang Guoji in the Internal Affairs Office, Zhu Youxiao can be said to be clear.

But why did he pretend not to know?

Because these things were done by the people under him, how could he let others know?

For Zhu Youxiao, Zhang Guoji himself is a puppet, and there is nothing to say.

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Queen Zhang looked at Zhu Youxiao with some resentment, and she was very helpless in her heart.

Empress Zhang knew that His Majesty might not know anything, but he knew something, but he had no way, or he didn't want to care.

However, Empress Zhang still wanted to help her father, and said softly: "Your Majesty, my father wants the concubine to ask, can the internal affairs office start the assessment?" After all, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is now short of manpower, and the assessment should start as soon as possible, so we can replenish the manpower as soon as possible. ”

This is the reason that Empress Zhang found for her father.

In fact, the meaning of his father's words is obvious, that is, he has no one to help in the Internal Affairs Office, so he can be said to be alone. The most important reason why those people were able to put him in the air was this.

So my father wanted to start the assessment sooner, so that he could recruit a group of his own people. By then, with his talent, he will definitely be able to clean up all those people.

Empress Zhang remained skeptical of her father's statement.

If His Majesty doesn't agree to her, then he can only do what his father says, and I hope that my father can recruit some of the people he wants from it, or the talents he says.

Zhu Youxiao smiled secretly in his heart.

This Zhang Guoji can't help it, but it's okay like this, anyway, the affairs of the Internal Affairs Office are almost done, so let him start.

I just don't know if Zhang Guoji can continue to stay in the Internal Affairs Office after the exam this time?

However, Zhu Youxiao will not let Zhang Guoji go, because he is a back-handed man in the Internal Affairs Office.

If you want to know what the Internal Affairs Office is going to do, it is still very offensive. In such a situation, a person with a hard enough head is needed to be the backstabber.

Zhang Guoji, the emperor's father-in-law and the queen's father-in-law, is hard enough for such a person, just like the grandfather of Emperor Wanli back then.

The key problem lies in Zhang Guoji, his identity is too special. Even if he made any mistakes, he could not be punished severely, and even the courtiers knew this.

How can you get the emperor to kill his father-in-law?

Or do you want the queen to kill her relatives in righteousness?

In such a situation, Zhang Guoji is a perfect back-handed man.

Therefore, before Zhang Guoji's use value is exhausted, it is impossible for Zhu Youxiao to let him leave the Internal Affairs Office.

However, the assessment should indeed begin, and Zhu Youxiao was originally hesitant whether the Internal Affairs Office would start the assessment first or the Royal Academy would start the examination first.

Since the Ministry of Internal Affairs is in a hurry, let them start first, and let Zhang Guoji test the water.

So Zhu Youxiao took Queen Zhang's hand and said, "Since Baozhu has said so, let's do it." I will let Chen Hong go immediately, and this matter will be arranged immediately, and it will be carried out as soon as possible, and there will be no further delays. Let's put my heart in my stomach. ”

Listening to Zhu Youxiao's words and looking at his restless hand touching his stomach, Empress Zhang's face was slightly red.

She nodded lightly, leaned her head on Zhu Youxiao's arms, and said softly: "Your Majesty really loves the concubine." Being able to marry His Majesty is really a blessing from the concubine's ancestors. ”

Seeing that the emperor and empress seemed to be tired, Chen Hong hurriedly beckoned and asked everyone to retreat.

When Zhu Youxiao and Empress Zhang were visiting me, several people were gathering in Xu Guangqi's house.

It is the three figures of Xinxue in the court, Xu Guangqi, the second assistant of the cabinet, Shen Tingyun, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Li Zhizao, the servant of the household department.

The three of them sat together, and their faces were not very good-looking.

Xu Guangqi raised his head, glanced at Shen Tingyun, and said with a heavy face: "You and Zhenzhi can talk about the situation!" ”

Zhenzhi is Li Zhizao's word, and his level is not enough at today's meeting, so he was not present.

Xu Guangqi asked Shen Tingyun to tell Li Zhizao what happened at the meeting, and then the three of them could discuss, otherwise they couldn't say anything.

Shen Tingyun nodded, and said with the same heavy face: "Okay." ”

After agreeing to this, Shen Tingyun introduced the matter to Li Zhizao in detail.

After Shen Tingyun finished speaking, he sighed a little helplessly and said, "This is the case, and that's probably how it happened." We really don't understand why it's the way it is. ”

Li Zhizao's face was not very good-looking, because the three of them had not discussed this matter, and even a matter that was nine times out of ten, they felt that His Majesty would definitely lean towards his own faction.

If you win the qualification to take charge this time, then you are destined to let your school take off.

But I didn't expect things to turn out like this. All three of them were not in a very good mood

At this time, Xu Guangqi, who was sitting on the main seat, said faintly: "When I was in front of the emperor today, I already noticed that something was wrong, we seemed to be targeted, and we were not only a group of people, but I just didn't know what was wrong." ”

"Actually, I don't know what's wrong, what's going on. But now it's useless to dwell on this, Your Majesty gave Huang Kezhang the errand, which can be said to have caught us off guard. What we do next is crucial, and no one knows what Huang is going to do. ”

"Actually, there are already traces." Shen Tingyun, who was on the side, said: "If there is any news coming out these days, then I know what he is going to do, and I don't know when he converted to Xunzi." ”

When he said the last sentence, Shen Tingyun's face was full of mockery.

The other two people also reacted, and Li Zhizao said with a calm face: "It turns out that this is the case, so it makes sense." It's just that I haven't figured out one thing yet, why is Huang Kezhang so sure that His Majesty will believe in Xunzi? ”

At the beginning, we were summoned by His Majesty, and Chen Kedao went to give lectures, so we have the status we have today. But how did Huang Kezhang know that His Majesty would be interested in Xunzi? That's what I couldn't figure out. However, Huang Kezhang's approach seems to be learning from us, do you think he will arrange someone to give a lecture to His Majesty? ”

"Arranger?" Xu Guangqi said with some sarcasm: "Huang Kezhang will go by himself." ”

The other two looked at each other, and both said in disbelief, "Will he go by himself?" Impossible, right? ”

"What's impossible about that?" Xu Guangqi waved his hand and said, "You don't know Huang Kezhang's personality, this is a very cautious old fox, but he is very bold in doing things. Once something is decided, Huang Kezhang will do it directly, and there will be no retreat. ”

"In the cabinet before, Huang Kezhang has always been quiet and doesn't care about our affairs. It's not because he's willing to do this, on the contrary, it's precisely because he's unwilling and wants to make a difference, but he just hasn't found the right entry point. ”

"There are several powerful yamen in the imperial court, and Zhou Jiamo has the final say, and it is impossible for Huang Kezhang to reach out; The Ministry of War is Sun Chengzong's, the Ministry of Household is mine, the Ministry of Rites is Shen Tingyun's, and the Ministry of Industry is in the hands of Zhao Nanxing. ”

"Although Huang Kezhang is a cabinet scholar, he only holds one criminal department in his hand, and other than that, the sixth department has no room for him to interfere."

"Although Huang Kezhang is also a cabinet scholar, he is not very favored by His Majesty. In comparison, Sun Chengzong is His Majesty's teacher, while I am valued by His Majesty, and Han Yi is the first assistant of the cabinet. Huang Kezhang is not the slightest special among us, so he has been quiet, the biggest reason is because he has no choice. ”

This time Huang Kezhang saw an opportunity, and he thought of Xunzi's doctrine. Although I don't know how he made His Majesty accept it, he did find the right direction. Xunzi's doctrine, you all know, pay equal attention to etiquette and law, which corresponds to Huang Kezhang's criminal department. So it is a very good opportunity for Huang Kezhang, as long as he can do it, the status of the Criminal Department will be greatly improved; In the cabinet, he will also have enough say and will become a candidate to represent the forces of one side. ”

In such a situation, Huang Kezhang will go all out to do it. One of the most difficult points in this is actually to get His Majesty to accept Xunzi's doctrine. I don't know how Huang Kezhang did it before, but he will definitely go to give a lecture to His Majesty in person, because this is the most critical part of the whole thing. Huang Kezhang wants to ensure that nothing goes wrong, so he will never allow the slightest mistake, and will definitely go by himself. ”

Listening to Xu Guangqi's words, the expressions of several people present became serious.

No one expected Xu Guangqi to come to such a conclusion, but the result was exactly as Xu Guangqi said, they all believed it, because it was very correct.

"So what should we do?" Shen Tingyun asked.

This matter is also very critical to Shen Tingyun, originally he wanted to use this matter to expand the power of his side, but now he was inserted by Huang Kezhang, and he must be unhappy in his heart.

But it doesn't matter if you're happy or not, what matters is how you can take back your own interests.

Hearing Shen Tingyun's question, Li Zhizao's brows furrowed, and he said with some hesitation: "I'm afraid it's not easy to do, Your Majesty has appointed Huang Kezhang now, it's not easy for us to get rid of him, and Your Majesty won't change his order overnight." The only place we can do is to make Your Majesty distrust Xunzi's doctrine. ”

After saying this, Li Zhizao raised his head and looked at Xu Guangqi, he still had to find a way to do this.

However, Xu Guangqi didn't show anything, just quietly pondered.

After a while, Xu Guangqi raised his head, his gaze swept over the faces of Shen Tingyun and the others, and said slowly: "I don't think we should do anything." Although we are in the current position, we are still in the world of science. You also know the academies in various places, and you also know the origins of local officials, if we fight with Huang Kezhang now, they will be happy, and at the same time, Your Majesty will be dissatisfied with us. ”

"Because when Your Majesty uses us, aren't we also unknown? Aren't we also being excluded by the imperial court? If we are now excluding Huang Kezhang, then what is the difference between us and the people before us? What will His Majesty think of us? So we can't do anything. ”

Shen Tingyun on the side nodded and said, "Maybe we can be with Huang Kezhang." It turned out that I was still a little worried that if I were the only one to do it, I might become the target of public criticism.

"I'm not afraid, I'm just afraid that it won't work out, and then all our hard work will be in vain. But now with Huang Kezhang, he can take the lead for us. He is more conspicuous than we are. ”

Li Zhizao also nodded, and said approvingly: "That's the truth." ”

Xu Guangqi made up his mind and said directly: "So we don't have to do anything, not only can we not do anything, but we also have to support Huang Kezhang, in this way, Your Majesty will feel that we are loyal to the country, and at the same time, we will let Huang Kezhang take risks for us." ”

At this time, the three of them came to a common conclusion and reached the same direction.

"Then that's how it goes." Shen Tingyun nodded and said: "Tomorrow we will go to Huang Kezhang, and all the people in the Ministry of Rites will cooperate with him, I believe that there will be a result soon, and this result will be beneficial to us." ”

While the three men reached an agreement, Huang Kezhang was talking to his son Huang Yongji at home.

Huang Yongji looked at his father with some concern, and asked worriedly, "Father, is it too risky to do this?" I'm afraid that there won't be too many people supporting my father at that time, and in that case, something might go wrong. ”

Huang Kezhang waved his hand and said with a smile: "You think too much." People in this world are sinister, your father and I have been officials for many years, and we deeply know that the hearts of people in officialdom are even more sinister, and there have never been any real friends and supporters. They will only follow you when there is a benefit, otherwise who will? ”

"Even if you sit in the position of the first assistant to the cabinet, so what? When you are in power, everyone naturally respects you, but once you are no longer in office, it is a person who walks away. Do you really think they respect you? ”

"No, they only respect your official hat, but they also respect themselves. Because in officialdom, only if you respect other people's official hats, others will respect your official hats, which is the eternal truth in officialdom. ”

"As long as your father and I knock down the matter of Xunzi this time, someone will follow up immediately. They don't follow me, they follow the interests of it, and if a new doctrine emerges, whoever occupies it earlier will become the first speaker of this doctrine, and he will be able to gain more benefits. ”

"Above the officialdom, there are many people who dare to take risks, and there are people who don't want to die for the sake of power. You have to know one thing, making money in this world is addictive. You see that many people can't spend all his money in his life, even if the descendants of his loser can't spend it all when he rolls over, but he is still desperately making money. Why? Do you think it's about money? No, all he wants is the thrill of making money. ”

"It's the same with being an official, being an official is also addictive, and this addiction comes faster than making money. Therefore, all kinds of people who come and go every day in the officialdom are always thinking about climbing up, and it is too small to do seven products today, so they want to change to five products; It's too small to make five products tomorrow, so I want to change to a third product. ”

Huang Yongji hesitated a little, looked at his father and asked, "Then there is no one in this world who is dedicated to the country and the people?" ”

"Yes," Huang Kezhang nodded and said, "But how many?" There was a Hai Rui in the Ming Dynasty, and others may have them, but there are not many. But above the officialdom, as my father said, there are official addicts, how many such officials are there? ”

Without waiting for Huang Kezhang to continue, Huang Yongji spoke first: "Like the sand of the Yellow River." ”

"So your father never worried that there would be no supporters, that there would be people who would follow your father, and that there would be people who would oppose it. You have to remember, son, if no one opposes you above the officialdom, then you are in danger, and Your Majesty will not let you be a high-ranking official. ”

"It's because of balance, right?" Huang Yongji asked.

"Yes and no. A person who has no enemies, how will His Majesty clean up in the future? Huang Kezhang said this, smiling self-deprecatingly.

Seeing that his son seemed to understand or not, Huang Kezhang shook his head and continued: "You don't have to worry about such things, how are you reading?" ”

"Back to the father, the son has been working hard." Huang Yongji opened his mouth and said: "My son is not only reading Xunzi, but also reading the books of Han Feizi and the Legalists. ”

After listening to his son's words, Huang Kezhang nodded with satisfaction and said, "That's the best." In a few days, I will get you to the Royal Academy, and when the time comes, our father and son will be of the same mind, and this Ming will definitely have a place for us. Maybe at that time, Han Yi, the head of the cabinet, will not be able to do it. ”

Huang Yongji was a little silent, maybe his father was talking about himself.