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Under the watchful eye, the dragon boat slowly docked at the Yangzhou wharf.

Then, in the sound of long live the mountain, Emperor Deqing led the first assistant Zhou Shangjing, the elder Shen Changmao, and the household secretary Zhao Junchen to slowly set foot on the land of Yangzhou.

The process of welcoming the car has already been arranged, and everyone acts according to the rules like marionettes, although solemn and grand, but it is also unremarkable.

However, because Zhao Junchen has been following behind Emperor Deqing, this situation has fallen into the eyes of some well-intentioned people, but it has caused some waves in the calm situation.

Chinese people have always liked to speculate, especially in the officialdom, the front and back positions, name arrangement, and appearance order of officials are always very particular, and once there is a slight change, it will attract countless speculations and discussions.

It stands to reason that when Emperor Deqing came to Yangzhou, the only court officials who were qualified to follow Emperor Deqing and accept the welcome with Emperor Deqing were only a few elders in the cabinet, but this time Zhao Junchen actually joined in and walked side by side with core ministers such as Zhou Shangjing and Shen Changmao, the first assistant!

What does this mean? Could it be that in the heart of Emperor Deqing, Zhao Junchen's status is no longer inferior to that of several cabinet elders?

Zhao Junchen is Emperor Deqing's most favored minister, everyone has heard of this, but until this time, seeing Emperor Deqing take Zhao Junchen with him, all walks of life in Yangzhou found that Emperor Deqing's favor to Zhao Junchen is even better than the rumors, far from being comparable to ordinary courtiers, so their attention to Zhao Junchen has also increased a lot in an instant.

The emperor's every move is always far-reaching and should not be underestimated.

So. This time, Emperor Deqing took Zhao Junchen with him and disembarked with Zhao Junchen, which seemed to be a random arrangement. But it is indeed a great grace.

Emperor Deqing didn't pay anything, but his arrangement did give Zhao Junchen great benefits - at least. After this incident, if Zhao Junchen contacts some people in the future, Zhao Junchen's confidence will be much more sufficient, and the other party's confidence will also be weakened a lot.

For example, although many Yangzhou salt merchants originally planned to buy Zhao Junchen and wanted to win Zhao Junchen's support in the matter of "Sichuan Salt Reform", they did not necessarily value Zhao Junchen, and they also had the idea of "if Zhao Junchen is not easy to buy, they will bypass Zhao Junchen and directly contact Emperor Deqing or Shoufu Zhou Shangjing", and felt that if they got the support of Emperor Deqing or Shoufu Zhou Shangjing, they felt that if they got the support of Emperor Deqing or Shoufu Zhou Shangjing. Then it doesn't matter if there is no way for Zhao Junchen.

But at this time, after seeing that Emperor Deqing was so fond of Zhao Junchen, the salt merchants in Yangzhou abandoned the idea of luck, and their attention to Zhao Junchen was suddenly raised to a higher level.

In this regard, Emperor Deqing, intentionally or unintentionally, laid a good foundation for Zhao Junchen's plan in Jiangnan.

Of course, whether Zhao Junchen will be grateful for Emperor Deqing's kindness afterwards is another matter.

*

After some ceremonial procedures, Emperor Deqing asked the Yangzhou prefect about the recent situation in Yangzhou. After giving some instructions to all walks of life in Yangzhou and getting to know a few representatives from all walks of life in Yangzhou, the welcoming ceremony is over.

Next, Emperor Deqing got into the royal carriage. Go to the temporary palace in Yangzhou.

And Zhao Junchen did not continue to accompany him because he was allowed to take a vacation for a period of time because he was allowed by Emperor Deqing. Instead, he found Zhao Deqing, and then rode in the carriage with Zhao Deqing. left Yangzhou City in a low-key manner and went to the ancestral house of the Zhao family on the outskirts of Yangzhou City.

Over there. Zhao Junchen has many things to investigate and arrange.

Zhao Deqing also saw Emperor Deqing's favor to Zhao Junchen in the process of welcoming him, and he was very excited about it, and he continued to compliment and flatter Zhao Junchen, but Zhao Junchen did not say anything polite to Zhao Deqing after getting into the carriage, but directly asked Zhao Deqing about the preparations of the Zhao family in Yangzhou during this time.

Because Zhao Junchen sent Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan to Yangzhou in advance, Zhao Deqing did not dare to hide Zhao Junchen's inquiry, and hurriedly described the preparations of the Zhao family to Zhao Junchen in detail during this time.

It's just that there are many things - such as donating money to gain fame, and then returning the land that the Zhao family forcibly seized to the owner, etc. - are obviously due to the construction and "persecution" of Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan, but when Zhao Deqing was narrating at this time, he took all the credit for these things on himself, showing a picture of high hard work, high consciousness, and great sacrifice.

Obviously, Zhao Deqing wanted to take the opportunity to reverse Zhao Junchen's bad impression of the Zhao family in Yangzhou.

Zhao Junchen also knew that Zhao Deqing's account would inevitably be full of untruths, but Zhao Junchen did not expose it, after all, this was just a preliminary investigation, and Zhao Junchen still had to ask Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan for further details.

Compared with these unbearable "relatives" of the Zhao family in Yangzhou, Zhao Junchen still believes in Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan, the two masters of the Zhao Mansion who know the roots.

Therefore, after listening to Zhao Deqing's narration, Zhao Junchen first nodded with satisfaction, and then asked: "A few days ago, I sent two masters from the mansion to Yangzhou to help you, one is called Su Xiqing and the other is Xiao Wenxuan, where are they now?" Why didn't I see them? ”

Zhao Deqing replied: "The people who greeted the driver at the dock today were carefully selected by the Yangzhou Mansion, in order to ensure a smooth future, except for the people from all walks of life who greeted the car, the rest of the idle people could not approach, and the same is true for Master Su and Master Xiao, so I advised them to wait in the ancestral house of the Zhao family, and when you return to the ancestral house, you will be able to see them." ”

Zhao Junchen nodded, originally planning to stop talking like this, preparing to think about something alone.

However, he didn't expect Zhao Deqing to hesitate for a moment, and then suddenly began to complain to Zhao Junchen.

said that it was a complaint, but in fact it was a complaint, a small report by Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan.

Why Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan looked down on the Zhao family, bullied the children of the Zhao family, used chicken feathers as arrows, helped to add chaos, and even had ill intentions, deceived superiors and subordinates, were disloyal to Zhao Junchen, and so on, and so on.

According to Zhao Deqing, if there was no Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan's hind legs, the Yangzhou Zhao family could have prepared better and more sufficiently, and Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan, as foreign surnames, are not of the same mind as Zhao Junchen, maybe they have other plans, and Zhao Junchen has now returned to the Zhao family, so these two people look down on the Yangzhou Zhao family and look down on Zhao Junchen, so Zhao Junchen should punish them severely.

After quietly listening to Zhao Deqing's complaints, Zhao Junchen did not express any opinions, but after taking a deep look at Zhao Deqing, he nodded noncommittally.

Zhao Deqing originally wanted to say something, but after he saw Zhao Junchen's attitude, some apprehension suddenly appeared in his heart for some reason, and the rest of the words and complaints were swallowed back into his stomach.

And inside the carriage, it was finally quiet again.

*

Finally, when it was getting late, the carriage finally came to the ancestral house of the Zhao family.

Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan, who should be severely punished in Zhao Deqing's mouth, have been waiting for Zhao Junchen outside the Zhao family's ancestral house for a long time at this time.

At the beginning, the Zhao family in Yangzhou drove Zhao Junchen's mother out of the clan, which also affected Zhao Junchen's life, and now Zhao Junchen has returned to the ancestral house of the Zhao family, it stands to reason that there should be some emotion in his heart.

However, Zhao Junchen has already been "Li Dai Taozhuang", at this time Zhao Junchen came to the ancestral house of the Zhao family, but there was no fluctuation in love, and there was no special idea - in fact, Zhao Junchen did not have much affection for the Zhao family in Yangzhou, and the ancestral house of the Zhao family was not much different from the inn in his eyes, just a temporary resting place.

Therefore, after coming to the ancestral house of the Zhao family, Zhao Junchen got out of the carriage, his footsteps did not pause at all, and he did not seriously look at what the ancestral house of the Zhao family looked like, but after meeting some of the main figures of the Zhao family in Yangzhou, he came to the room prepared by the Zhao family for himself, and called Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan to ask the Zhao family in Yangzhou about the preparation during this time.

Regarding Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan also gave a detailed answer of 1510, the content is roughly the same as Zhao Deqing's answer, but in the mouths of Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan, the people who deceive the upper and lower and the fox and fake the tiger have become the upper and lower people of the Yangzhou Zhao family, etc., if it were not for Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan who have been trying their best to correct it, the preparations of the Yangzhou Zhao family cannot be completed at all.

Then, after Su Xiqing and Xiao Wenxuan glanced at each other, Xiao Wenxuan finally bowed to Zhao Junchen and said, "Lord Zhao, we are waiting for your long-term considerations for the future, but it is Lord Zhao that you try to replace the head of the Zhao family...... That Zhao Deqing is short-sighted and forgetful, and he is by no means a good choice for the head of the family! ”

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…… (To be continued......)