In this large flower hall, everyone sat as the guest of honor.

Lin Haoran is the owner of this house, and he is the first place on the gold list that year, and he is also the Shuntian Mansion Yin, who is in the third grade, so he naturally sits on the main seat.

Yang Futian and others sat according to the rank of the list, Zhang Wei was originally qualified to sit in the second seat, but he directly refused, and still chose to sit in the seat that originally belonged to him.

At this moment, when it comes to business, everyone stops their chopsticks, or listens carefully, or participates in the discussion.

"Brother Xingde, as long as I, Lin Ruoyu, don't fall, I will definitely wash away these maggots one day!"

This sentence is righteous and solemn, although this is what Lin Haoran said to Sun Zhengang, but these words also fell to the bottom of everyone's hearts, and even caused a resonance.

In the current court, Lin Haoran is different from those officials who are bent on pursuing personal interests, and he is undoubtedly an official who really wants to do practical things.

"Senior brother, I know that if we make a compromise, the price of salt in the Huguang area will be lower, but how can my generation of scholars sit back and watch those salt merchants bring disaster to the country and the people? Although he is humble in his next post, he will fully support his senior brother and help him get rid of the evils of the court. Sun Zhengang had already seen the problem of salt politics thoroughly and responded sincerely.

Xiao Jinian and the others were also full of righteousness, first exchanged glances with each other, and immediately echoed without hesitation: "We are willing to help Senior Brother get rid of the evils of the court!" ”

In the current Ming Dynasty, non-Hanlin does not enter the cabinet, which has long been a common practice. Among them in so many years, only Lin Haoran still has the opportunity to enter the cabinet, and the others are at most official scholars.

It's just that if you want to really make a big career and get rid of the shortcomings such as the salt administration, I'm afraid that this burden can only fall on Lin Haoran's shoulders, and he will complete this feat of benefiting the country and the people.

Lin Haoran is only twenty-one years old, he is a genuine Hanlin Academy, and now he is already the official Shuntian Mansion Yin, and the opening of the sea and the sorting out of salt were also proposed by him, as if he had already proved that he was the chosen one.

"The Ming Dynasty is now full of ills, it is not easy to get rid of the disadvantages of salt, and it is even more difficult to get rid of all kinds of ills in the court. In the future, if you have your help, we can work together to tide over the difficulties, and I believe that our Wuwu students will eventually be able to do something that benefits the country and the people. Lin Haoran faced the eager eyes of the same year, and replied.

Naturally, it is not an easy task to rectify the salt administration, and it is impossible for him to accomplish it easily alone.

In the past, Liu Jin could be said to be in power leaning towards the government and the opposition, but when he promoted the rectification of the military camp, he was frantically attacked by vested benefit groups. The two Huai salt merchants and the forces behind them are not weak, and now they are in cahoots with the first assistant Xu Jie, which will definitely be a protracted struggle.

Although they achieved a small victory this time, they were still far from achieving the goal of rectifying the salt government, so they should not only beware of the counterattack of the Xu Party or the two Huai Yancai at the moment, but also closely huddle together.

Lin Haoran clearly remembers a sentence in his previous life: whether a group has combat strength or not is not only connected by interests, but also needs to have a common goal.

If such a group is formed, some members will be willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their goals, and they will die believing that their sacrifice is worth it.

He had just appeased Sun Zhengang, and at this moment he said these words of "digging out his heart", not only to win people's hearts, but also to set a clearer goal for everyone.

Lin Haoran raised his wine glass high, and said loudly while the iron was hot: "The road is long, and I will go up and down to seek." Come, let's have a drink together, and take it as our responsibility to get rid of the evils of the court! ”

"Take it as your responsibility to eliminate the evils of the court!"

Xiao Jinian's eyes bloomed brightly, and they raised their wine glasses high and echoed loudly.

But no matter what happens in the future, they are already more closely cohesive at this moment. When the wine glasses collided, they had a clearer goal to strive for, and they became more and more like-minded comrades with each other.

The vast majority of the officials of the Ming Dynasty were born in the imperial examination, and because they had been educated by the sages, they were essentially scholars with ideals and ambitions at the beginning, and they all wanted to do something practical for the country.

It's just that when they officially enter the officialdom, this dream will be shattered. They will soon be faced with a cruel choice, either to be free from the heart of power or to go along with it.

Like Yan Song, who was condemned as a traitor by later generations, after seeing the shady affairs of officialdom, he returned to Fenyi and stayed for ten years. Xu Jie even collided with Zhang Xuan because of his youth and vigor, and served as a small pusher from the beautiful Hanlin editing and releasing place. Zhang Juzheng also fled from officialdom for a time and traveled around the country for more than three years.

Xiao Jinian and the others are naturally bloody scholars, and they are lucky to meet a good teacher Wu Shan, so they can still maintain some enthusiasm. Now Lin Haoran, who has been born out of nowhere, has successfully awakened their original pursuit and listed a common goal for them.

The atmosphere of the banquet was good, and everyone looked high in morale after drinking.

Long Chizhong is a very rational person, and after he slowly calmed down, he picked out the situation and said: "After such a fuss, I'm afraid that the Xu Party will regard us as a thorn in the side!" ”

The reason why he said this was naturally not to retreat, but to point out the grim situation they were currently facing, and everyone would discuss how to overcome this difficulty.

"Afraid of a bird! The soldiers will block, and the water will cover the earth! Sun Zhengang put down the wine glass and said loudly as if he didn't care.

Mo Fei never said much, and he said indifferently: "We are not treated by them in the first place!" ”

"After going around in a circle, let's go back to the problem of Jingcha next year!" Yang Futian saw everyone's thoughts, and even if it was a little broken.

Although they won a small victory in this battle over the salt administration, there was no substantial improvement in their situation. Especially as we get closer to Jingcha next year, their situation will get worse and worse.

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at Lin Haoran again, and Lin Haoran had become the absolute leader of this group.

Long Chizhong looked a little anxious, and asked directly to Lin Haoran, who was drinking: "Senior brother, did you meet Li Chunfang some time ago?" What do you think of Li Chunfang? ”

At the prompt of Zhou Youqing, the director of the Ministry of Officials, Lin Haoran took the opportunity to participate in the wedding banquet and very skillfully bumped into Li Chunfang, the left attendant of the Ministry of Officials.

Lin Haoran put down the wine glass, shook his head with a wry smile and said, "I did meet with Li Shilang, but it was a public place after all, and the time was also a little sensitive, so we didn't talk about anything substantial. After a pause, he looked at everyone again and continued: "I think Li Shilang is a decent official, and he seems to be very interested in the matter of opening the sea, I will officially visit his mansion in the near future!" ”

When Yang Futian heard this, he also nodded seriously.

The current situation is dire, but they are not completely out of the blue. In particular, Xu Jie, of course, is the first assistant, but he is not Yan Song who has won the favor of the saint after all, and he can't cover the sky with one hand now.

"Is the teacher really going to give up the position of Master Hanlin to Yan Ne?" Zhou Youqing ate a fennel bean and asked curiously.

There were too many people in Long Chi who didn't know it, and they all looked at Lin Haoran.

"Not bad!" Lin Haoran nodded very calmly.

"This is clearly to take away "Talking about the Past and the Present", and it is too bullying!" Sun Zhengang's brows furrowed, and he immediately accused.

"The teacher is a scholar of the household department and a bachelor of Hanlin, and there is indeed something to criticize!" Long Chizhong said with a neutral expression.

"What kind of criticism, it is clear that it is to seek the editor-in-chief right of "Talking about the Past and the Present"!" Sun Zhengang picked up his wine glass and accused angrily, then looked at Lin Haoran hopefully and said, "Senior brother, can you fight over this matter?" ”

"This matter can't be contested, the power of "Talking about the Past and the Present" is too much, Xu Jie can't allow us to carry it in our hands!" Lin Haoran shook his head very affirmatively, looked at the frustrated expressions on the faces of Sun Zhengang and the others, and immediately said with confidence: "You don't need to worry too much!" I won't let you be beaten all the time, and it's impossible to go until next year without preparation, although I may not be able to succeed, but I will definitely try my best to find a good way for everyone! ”

After these days of getting along, everyone has more and more confidence in Lin Haoran. is not only resourceful, but also judgmental of the current situation, he is already an extremely mature politician.

Hearing that Lin Haoran had a plan, Xiao Jinian and the others nodded one after another. Taking 10,000 steps back, even if they are really released, as long as Lin Haoran can stay in the court all the time, then they can still return to the court.

After all, they chose to take a difficult path, and many of them had the determination to "suffer".

In the afternoon, Yang Futian and others chose to say goodbye and meet again on the next day of rest.

Lin Haoran followed the usual example, sent everyone to the door in the same year, and watched them leave in a carriage. Just watching the last carriage disappear at the mouth of the alley, he let out a long sigh.

Being in this court, obviously not doing much, but feeling a hundred times more tired than serving as the prefect of Leizhou and Guangzhou, he has begun to understand why Wu Shan always has a bitter gourd face.

He was about to return to the house, but saw Hu Niu walking into this alley, followed by Ali and Aunt Shen and others. Looking at the nervous appearance of the tiger girl, it seems that she has found another treasure.

Since the last time she came back from the palace, Hu Niu seemed to be a different person, and she actually took the initiative to start a treasure hunt in the capital. And every time she got the baby, she generously gave the treasure to Jiajing, and she was already a little celebrity.

For the rest of July, the court was quiet.

The struggle over the salt administration, whether unwilling or angry on both sides, is about to come to an end for the time being. The left deputy capital Yu Shi Dong Wei went to Huainan to rectify the salt administration, and everything had to wait until the results came out.

Of course, calm will always be on the surface, but there will always be an undercurrent underneath.

On the way back to his hometown, Yan Song didn't know whether he was unwilling to fail, or if he really had a deep longing for Jiajing, and he also wrote some letters to Jiajing from time to time.

After Jiajing received these letters, he inevitably recalled the past. Even though Yan Song was bad before, Yan Song has returned to his hometown now, so he naturally wants to think of Yan Song's good things in the past.

Jiajing and Yan Song have had a relationship between monarchs and ministers for more than 20 years, and Yan Song almost lives in Xiyuan, the two have surpassed monarchs and ministers in essence, and are more like a pair of old friends for many years.

In the same way, Jiajing generously gave Yan Song some gifts and replied to him with a handwritten letter.

After Yan Dang learned of these things, the voices of the capital calling for Yan Song's return appeared one after another, frequently criticizing the current political ills, and almost directly accusing Xu Jie of being incompetent.

But it is no wonder that Yan Dang was suddenly so excited, and even put forward such an unbelievable suggestion, in fact, there is a precedent for this kind of thing.

In the Jiajing Dynasty, it was not inconceivable that Shoufu would return to the throne of Shoufu after he stepped down. The former first assistants Zhang Xuan and Xia Yan, both of whom resigned and returned.

Yan Song went through this kind of torture in the past, and after taking over Xia Yan's position, he thought that he would become the supreme first assistant of the Ming Dynasty. It didn't take long for Jiajing to suddenly change his hexagram and summon Xia Yan back, and Yan Song had no choice but to give up the position of first assistant in a reluctant manner.

Now that the Yan Party is facing the liquidation of Xu Jie, there are well-informed people who know that the Xu Party is collecting evidence of their crimes, and intends to find a suitable time to catch them all.

It is precisely like this, whether the members of the Yan Party want to repay the kindness of Yan Song in the past, or just for self-preservation, they need to call on Yan Song to return to the court.

Yan Dang's power in the court has long been deep-rooted, even after a round of purges by Xu Jie, it still retains a force that cannot be underestimated, so the voice of the appeal is not weak.

It's just surprising that the effect is far from meeting their expectations, and there is no reaction even in the palace.

In this matter, it reflects Xu Jie's side as a shrewd politician.

At the beginning of his tenure, Xu Jie directly delegated power, and suggested that the emperor open up a wide range of words, so as to use practical actions to envelop the important ministers and many officials in the court.

After taking power, he was not in a hurry to introduce measures, so he did not let people find fault with it, and even rectified the salt administration "in accordance with the will of the people", which has been regarded by many people as a virtuous minister.

Now those who don't want the Yan Party to come back are not only Xu Jie, but also the important ministers of the court who are not Yan Party and the officials who control the way of speech.

In such a general environment, the voice of the Yan Party is destined to be drowned out by the current. And they are afraid that they are selectively forgetting, Yan Shifan has already confirmed the identity of the criminal minister, Yan Song has the reputation of "doting on Yanzi", how can he easily return?

This farce did not start after all, the spirit of the Yan Party came to an end, and the entire court seemed to be very harmonious.

Wu Shan was not enthusiastic about party struggle, and as the summer grain was successively transported to the capital, he also carried out his own work conscientiously, and put all his energy into the affairs of the household yamen.

On the other hand, Lin Haoran was more active, but he frequently went to the south of the city to visit some court bigwigs, and he was already preparing for next year's Jingcha.