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After Zhao Junchen left the Yangzhou Palace, he planned to return to the ancestral house of the Zhao family and prepare for the next leg of his southern tour.

Sitting on the carriage, Zhao Junchen seriously thought about his next plan, and unconsciously, Zhao Junchen's carriage had left Yangzhou City and came to the western suburbs of Yangzhou City.

And just as Zhao Junchen was pondering, the carriage suddenly stopped.

After a while, Xu Qingyan opened the curtain of the carriage door and reported to Zhao Junchen: "Young master, someone stopped our carriage halfway, saying that there was an old man who wanted to meet the young master and sent a token. ”

While speaking, Xu Qingyan handed the token to Zhao Junchen.

Zhao Junchen looked down and found that the so-called "token" was a volume of "The Biography of the Marquis of Huaiyin".

Then, Zhao Junchen suddenly laughed!

I remember that when Zhao Junchen had just overthrown Wen Guanliang, the first assistant Zhou Shangjing gave Zhao Junchen a gift, which was a volume of "The Biography of the Marquis of Huaiyin", which was a metaphor for the ending that Zhao Junchen would be hidden by the birds in the future!

Obviously, the person who wants to make a secret appointment with Zhao Junchen is Shoufu Zhou Shangjing!

Zhao Junchen did not feel any surprise at Zhou Shangjing's sudden appearance - in fact, the two sides had contact as early as Xuzhou. Now, the fighting between Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing is about to begin, after the two sides are ready, in order to increase their chances of winning, they are naturally looking for foreign aid, not only Emperor Deqing, but also Zhou Shangjing!

Moreover, Zhao Junchen believes that in the next period of time, not only will he be wooed by both sides, but also many influential important ministers of the imperial court, such as Shen Changmao, the elder of the pavilion who accompanied him on the southern tour, will also be attracted by both sides.

Emperor Deqing's wooing conditions were tempting. But it is inevitable that there is a lack of sincerity, so Zhou Shangjing in order to win over Zhao Junchen. What kind of conditions will be offered?

In this regard, Zhao Junchen has some expectations.

*

With such expectations. Zhao Junchen got out of the carriage, and under the leadership of the roadblocker, he came to a small teahouse on the side of the road, and after entering the teahouse, at the corner of the teahouse, Zhao Junchen really saw Zhou Shangjing.

In the teahouse, except for Zhou Shangjing, there is no one else, not only no guests. Even the shopkeeper of the teahouse didn't know where to go.

At this time, Zhou Shangjing was dressed in a gray shirt, and his temperament was also sharp, looking like a down-and-out old Confucian student, just cooking tea unhurriedly.

It's just that although Zhou Shangjing's clothes are ordinary, the tea sets he has at hand are extremely particular, such as high-quality Yixing clay pots, precious Ruyao tea cups, soft water prepared by himself, and unknown precious tea. In addition, tea keys, tea rules, tea drains, tea lotuses and other utensils. The same is not lacking.

Between the cooking of tea, the tea fragrance fills the room, refreshing people's hearts.

When Zhao Junchen entered the teahouse, Zhou Shangjing glanced up at Zhao Junchen. smiled slightly and said, "The old man has cooked a pot of good tea, let's talk while drinking." ”

Zhao Junchen also smiled. nodded, and then sat opposite Zhou Shangjing. Raised the teacup and said: "The younger generation still doesn't understand the art of tea, and drinking tea is just to quench thirst." Under the cow drink, I am afraid that the good tea art of the predecessors will be wasted again. ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen's meaning, Zhou Shangjing nodded and said, "It's okay, it's good to quench your thirst." ”

After a few words, Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing were silent, but they each drank two cups of fragrant tea.

After drinking a pot of tea, Zhou Shangjing finally broke the silence and asked: "When I was in Xuzhou, the old man had a deep conversation with you, I don't know what Junchen is thinking about now?" After arriving in Suzhou, do you want to secretly help the old man? Or do you want to help Your Majesty? ”

Zhao Junchen didn't answer, but diverted the topic and said, "Not long ago, the junior went to see His Majesty. ”

Seeing Zhao Junchen divert the topic, Zhou Shangjing didn't have any unhappy look, just nodded and said, "The old man knows." ”

Zhao Junchen continued: "Originally, it was for the next leg of the southern tour, but I didn't expect Your Majesty to suddenly talk about your predecessors, and I was quite worried that after your seniors retired, there would be no one in the imperial court to preside over the overall situation. ”

Zhou Shangjing's white eyebrows raised slightly, but he didn't say anything, just quietly listened to Zhao Junchen.

Zhao Junchen said again: "According to Your Majesty's intentions, under such circumstances, it may be a good idea for Shen and Huang to jointly preside over the cabinet, but the relationship between Shen and Huang has become closer and closer recently. ”

This is the condition for Emperor Deqing to win over Zhao Junchen, and now Zhao Junchen told Zhou Shangjing without any reservations, and the meaning is obvious - if the price you offer cannot be higher, then I'm sorry I can only support Emperor Deqing.

Zhou Shangjing's seemingly dim old eyes fluctuated for a moment, and then he suddenly smiled: "According to the plans you left in the capital, if you want to enter the cabinet, you may not necessarily need the support of Your Majesty. ”

Zhao Junchen also smiled and said leisurely: "Eggs can't be put in one basket." ”

Zhao Junchen's plan to use the commercial tax reform to frame the crown prince Zhu Heyu was already known to Zhou Shangjing. When he was in Xuzhou, when the two had a showdown with each other, Zhou Shangjing faintly threatened Zhao Junchen that if Zhao Junchen did not help him through the crisis in Suzhou, then he would use Zhao Junchen's plan to divert the attention of Emperor Deqing, so that Emperor Deqing was busy cleaning up the chaos of commercial tax reform, so he naturally couldn't take care of Zhou Shangjing, but the chaos of commercial tax reform was triggered in advance, and the damage caused to the crown prince Zhu Heyu and Huang Yourong would be reduced a lot, so that Zhao Junchen's plan would also be half the effort.

Now, Zhou Shangjing's plan to revisit Zhao Junchen is still an implicit threat.

However, Zhao Junchen ignored Zhou Shangjing's threat, saying that his plan was just to meddle in the cabinet, and if he helped Emperor Deqing deal with Zhou Shangjing, he could also achieve this goal.

After hearing Zhao Junchen's answer, Zhou Shangjing was silent for a moment again, and then spoke: "Junchen, the plans you left in the capital are very ingenious and interesting, and they will also have many benefits for me, so unless it is absolutely necessary, the old man does not plan to destroy your plans, and wait until the flowers and fruits are ripe to pick them, presumably the harvest will be greater." ”

Zhou Shangjing's words said that he would no longer threaten Zhao Junchen with Zhao Junchen's plan, which was a step back.

Zhao Junchen secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but his expression was very calm, and he said: "The predecessor is smart! ”

Then, Zhou Shangjing finally opened his own price and said: "Junchen, once your plan to stay in the capital is realized, the crown prince Zhu Heyu will certainly fall into the situation pointed out by Wanfu, but under the protection of His Majesty, he can still keep the position of the prince, but Huang Yourong will definitely become a scapegoat, and at that time, the vacant position in the cabinet, I will try my best to support Junchen's position, how about it?" ”

"Thank you for the support of the seniors, the younger generations are grateful!"

Between the words, although Zhao Junchen expressed gratitude, his expression was flat and he did not express any further.

Seeing Zhao Junchen's statement, Zhou Shangjing shook his head helplessly, and said: "Your Majesty has united the six departments of Nanjing in order to deal with the old man, and the old man knows that Junchen has always wanted to take over the authority of the Nanjing Household Department, from this aspect, you and I have the same interests, there are common enemies, and after this matter is resolved, the old man will also fully support Junchen to take over the rights and responsibilities of the Nanjing Household Department!" ”

Zhao Junchen's expression moved slightly.

Nanjing Household Department, in charge of the field tax, commercial tax, and mining tax in all parts of the Yangtze River, Zhao Junchen has always wanted to take power, and he also has his own plan, but if he gets Zhou Shangjing's support, then Zhao Junchen's possibility of success will naturally increase a lot!

However, if Zhou Shangjing's conditions were nothing more, it would still not be enough to impress Zhao Junchen.

After all, Zhao Junchen is still inseparable from the support of Emperor Deqing, and if he wants to persuade Zhao Junchen to oppose Emperor Deqing, even if it is only against him secretly, he also needs very generous conditions!

Seeing that Zhao Junchen's expression was still the same, Zhou Shangjing sighed softly, as if blaming Zhao Junchen for being too greedy.

However, after a while, Zhou Shangjing said again: "At the end of the year, the quadrennial Jingcha will begin. When the time comes, the old man will also support Junchen's position to a limited extent! ”

When Zhou Shangjing spoke, Zhao Junchen was about to pick up the teacup and prepare to drink tea, but after he heard Zhou Shangjing's words, the hand holding the tea subconsciously trembled slightly, and the tea spilled out because of this.

However, Zhao Junchen didn't care about the tea, just looked up at Zhou Shangjing, and asked with a serious expression: "Is this true?" ”

At the same time, Zhou Shangjing's conditions finally made Zhao Junchen unable to help but be tempted.

……

Well, today's second update!

…… (To be continued......)