……

……

Two days later, on the 22nd day of the third month of the lunar calendar.

According to the Yellow Calendar, this day is not an auspicious day for "everything is not appropriate, and do not take anything else".

In the afternoon of this day, around the hour of Shen, a clipper boat docked near the Huai'an pier in a low-key manner.

Then, three men walked down from the clipper ship one after another, namely a black-bearded old man with a low-key demeanor and a gentle attitude, a middle-aged man with a solemn expression and an unrestrained smile, and a young man with an elegant temperament and calm and calm.

Although these three people have different images and different ages, they are all outstanding and not angry, and they obviously have extraordinary backgrounds.

Needless to say, these three people are Huo Zhengyuan, a bachelor who was ordered to come to Huai'an to investigate the case, Bao Wenjie, a waiter in the Ministry of Rites, and Zhao Junchen, a scholar in the Ministry of Households.

Rushing all the way, the fast boat was also a little bumpy, so the three of them were exhausted - especially Huo Zhengyuan, a university scholar, although he was good at health preservation and had always been in good health, but after all, he was older, and at this time he only felt back pain and weakness in his legs and feet.

Therefore, after getting off the boat, Huo Zhengyuan first said: "Lord Zhao, Lord Bao, the three of us have traveled from Xuzhou to Huai'an, day and night, and now we are all tired, so it is better to find an inn to rest first." ”

In fact, the corruption case of Li Xin, the former prefect of Huai'an, because it was related to the reputation of the crown prince Zhu Heyu, can be said to be a matter of importance, and Huo Xuanxing was a matter XII.br/>of urgency, and Huo Xuan Xuan Xing was worried about the real milk caries and waved the weapon Mei Jiao could be handed over to the Pu Fishy Xuan Gan Jing Yuan

However, after hearing Huo Zhengyuan's mention. Bao Wenjie frowned, and said in a stern tone: "I am here by holy order." Naturally, you should work diligently and investigate the case carefully, and your majesty will come to Huai'an in two days. I don't have much time left to wait, so how can I delay it because I'm a little tired? If after His Majesty arrives in Huai'an, we still haven't been able to find out the facts of the case, how should we explain to His Majesty? ”

After a pause, Bao Wenjie proposed his own proposal and said, "The official thinks that things like inns can be arranged by assigning an entourage at will, but if it doesn't work, it's okay to live in the official office." But the three of you and I have the emperor's order, but we can't delay time, we should try our best to contact local officials, then check the relevant case files, and re-interrogate the former Huai'an prefect Li Xin! ”

Unlike Huo Zhengyuan, because it is related to the reputation of the crown prince Zhu and Yu, Bao Wenjie has a very positive attitude towards the investigation of the case, and is obviously eager to correct the name of the prince Zhu and Yu.

However, Huo Zhengyuan is a university scholar in the court after all, although the bachelors who have not entered the cabinet are not worth much - according to the practice of the Ming Dynasty, only the bachelors who are also the "three dukes" or "three orphans" can be regarded as cabinet elders. After Emperor Deqing succeeded to the throne, in order to weaken the influence of the cabinet, the number of scholars was also increased - but the status was still respected, and Bao Wenjie's attitude towards Huo Zhengyuan was not respectful. Not only did he accuse Huo Zhengyuan of "not respecting the holy order" in person, but the next construction was no different from an order, which inevitably caused a loss of dignity.

However. In the face of Bao Wenjie's contempt and rudeness, Huo Zhengyuan only frowned. And no more indications.

*

Seeing Huo Zhengyuan's expression, Zhao Junchen on the side shook his head secretly.

Huo Zhengyuan is the chief thinker of the Huang Yourong faction. There are even many people who think that Huo Zhengyuan's mind, means, city government, etc. are stronger than Huang Yourong!

In some respects, this is not wrong.

However, Huang Yourong eventually became the elder of the cabinet and one of the ministers in the court after Zhou Shangjing, and Huo Zhengyuan could only be attached to Huang Yourong.

In Zhao Junchen's view, the reason is Huo Zhengyuan's character flaws, his city government is too deep, and he is a little too smart, he always likes to hide himself behind the scenes, let others be the first bird, and always think about self-protection when encountering problems, never offend others in person, and indulge in calculations, lacking some determination and courage, so he is destined to be the material of the "second in command".

To put it mildly, Huo Zhengyuan is a superb "dog-headed military advisor", don't expect him to be in charge alone, but his yang and yin strategies are the most capable of helping people succeed.

Now, Huo Zhengyuan doesn't have any temper in the face of Bao Wenjie's contempt, which is proof of this!

However, according to Zhao Junchen's plan, after the end of the southern tour, Huang Yourong, who stayed in Beijing as an auxiliary government, will quickly fall, and Zhao Junchen will take the opportunity to absorb Huang Yourong's forces, and at that time, Huo Zhengyuan in front of him will be the key person in Zhao Junchen's plan - as long as Huo Zhengyuan is willing to take refuge in Zhao Junchen, then there is no need for Zhao Junchen to remind him, Huo Zhengyuan will take the initiative to recruit other former "Yellow Party" officials to join Zhao Junchen! - This is good for Zhao Junchen, needless to say!

At present, the situation in the capital has not changed significantly, and it is not a good time for Zhao Junchen to win over Huo Zhengyuan, but since Bao Wenjie embarrassed Huo Zhengyuan regardless of his dignity, Zhao Junchen will not give up this opportunity to show favor to Huo Zhengyuan.

*

So, after Zhao Junchen pondered for a while, he suddenly spoke: "I support Scholar Huo's method, we rushed to Huai'an, both physically and mentally exhausted, in this case, we can't do the errand explained by Your Majesty, maybe there will be mistakes, you might as well rest for one night, and wait until tomorrow you have a better spirit, and then seriously investigate the case, maybe the effect will be better." ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen's statement, Bao Wenjie raised his eyebrows and planned to oppose it again.

However, before Bao Wenjie could speak, Zhao Junchen had already preemptively said: "Lord Bao, if I remember correctly, you have just entered the age of not being confused this year, right?" At such an age, it is the peak of his prime, but Scholar Huo is now fifty-three, but he is not as energetic as you and me, it is true that Master Bao works hard, but he always needs to be considerate of the people around him, right? If we ignore physical and mental exhaustion, we just blindly support things, and finally make Scholar Huo fall ill, it will be a trouble, Lord Bao, do you say this is the truth? ”

Although Zhao Junchen's words made sense, and he buckled a big hat, Bao Wenjie was still unconvinced, and said in a tough tone: "In this case, Lord Zhao and Scholar Huo can go to the inn to rest by themselves, and I will go to investigate the case first!" ”

Zhao Junchen said with a smile: "Before leaving, His Majesty has already ordered the three of us to investigate the case together, and we must not act alone." Could it be that Lord Bao intends to disobey the Holy Order? Of course, if Master Bao agrees that Scholar Huo and I will investigate the case separately like you, then I will naturally have no objections. ”

Bao Wenjie naturally didn't worry about letting Zhao Junchen investigate the case alone, for fear that Zhao Junchen would take the opportunity to pour dirty water on the crown prince Zhu Heyu and make trouble, so after hesitating for a while, he finally agreed to Zhao Junchen's proposal.

However, although he agreed with Zhao Junchen's suggestion, Bao Wenjie still insisted on his own opinion, and said expressionlessly: "Since Lord Zhao is so insistent, I can't force it, but if the investigation is delayed because of this, then Lord Zhao and Master Huo don't blame Bao for breaking the bullet and impeaching the two!" ”

Zhao Junchen still smiled unchanged, and said: "Don't worry, if the investigation is really delayed, there is no need for Lord Bao to impeach at that time, and I will ask His Majesty for guilt!" ”

After a pause, Zhao Junchen said again: "What's more, investigating the case and resting are not in conflict...... The corruption case of Li Xin, the former prefect of Huai'an, involves a wide range of hidden facts, and there is even the possibility that Huai'an officials will jointly frame him, so if we venture to find local officials to inquire about the case, we may be fooled and deceived by them. ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen say this, Bao Wenjie couldn't help but be stunned.

Although Bao Wenjie does not believe that the corruption case of the former Huai'an prefect Li Xin was a misjudgment of the crown prince Zhu Heyu, he also has to admit that the approach proposed by Zhao Junchen is more effective and reasonable.

Therefore, Bao Wenjie didn't say anything more.

On the other side, Huo Zhengyuan looked at Zhao Junchen in front of him, with a thoughtful expression.

With Huo Zhengyuan's intelligence, he naturally understood that Zhao Junchen was deliberately helping him out.

However, the relationship between Zhao Junchen and Huang Yourong is like fire and water, Huang Yourong has suffered repeated losses, and it is difficult to reconcile with Zhao Junchen, and Huo Zhengyuan is Huang Yourong's right-hand man, why would Zhao Junchen deliberately help him? - Regarding this, Huo Zhengyuan didn't understand, but he felt that Zhao Junchen seemed to have other plans, and he was faintly vigilant in his heart.

However, when Zhao Junchen smiled at Huo Zhengyuan, Huo Zhengyuan still responded with a smile.

Between smiling at each other, the relationship between Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan seems to have narrowed a lot.

In fact, along the way, Zhao Junchen has been looking for opportunities to show favor to Huo Zhengyuan, close the relationship between the two, and lay the foundation for his future plans, but because there is a Bao Wenjie next to him, there are contradictions between the factions to which the three belong, so Zhao Junchen's idea has not been realized - in fact, what the three of them said along the way is not as much as what they said in just a short tea time!

Now, also because of Bao Wenjie, Zhao Junchen's idea has finally come true, although it can also be seen that Huo Zhengyuan is vigilant, but at least it is a good start.

*

After making up their minds, the three of them, with their respective retinues, began to look for a suitable inn to settle down and rest.

In fact, there are many inns near the dock, but most of them are simple, they are all places where ordinary people and boatmen and porters stay, and they do not conform to the identities of the three, although Huo Zhengyuan is extremely tired at this time, and Bao Wenjie has always advertised himself as a Qing official who suffers with the people, but they will not deign to live in this kind of inn.

On the contrary, Zhao Junchen felt that it didn't matter - as long as it was an inn, there would be first-class rooms, and no matter how bad this kind of room was, it could accommodate people - but since Huo Zhengyuan and Bao Wenjie were both reluctant, then Zhao Junchen would not be reluctant.

So, after searching for a long time, the three finally found an inn in the east of Huai'an City.

This inn is called "Jufu Pavilion".

……

…… (To be continued......) I1292