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When Huo Zhengyuan came to the Crane Fishing Tower, Zhao Junchen had been waiting in the private room for a long time, and when Huo Zhengyuan appeared, he went out to greet him in person, showing a thirsty attitude.

However, Huo Zhengyuan is also an old fritter in the officialdom, so naturally he will not change his mind because of Zhao Junchen's pretentious posture, after he saw Zhao Junchen, his attitude was very warm and polite, but it was precisely because his performance was too warm and polite, but it made people feel a trace of obvious alienation.

Huo Zhengyuan is a smart person, he knows very well that Zhao Junchen's intention to ask him to talk secretly at this time is nothing more than to take the opportunity to win over himself and want to pry Huang Yourong's corner.

In this regard, Huo Zhengyuan is not very disgusted - in a way, if Zhao Junchen does not make any action at this time, Huo Zhengyuan will underestimate Zhao Junchen and think that Zhao Junchen is not a qualified politician - but after a detailed analysis, he believes that Zhao Junchen has too many defects and hidden dangers, and he is not his ideal next home, so Huo Zhengyuan will not take refuge in Zhao Junchen.

Many times, attitudes such as "enthusiasm" and "politeness" are equivalent to the antonyms of "sincerity" and "sincerity", Huo Zhengyuan showed such an attitude, just to tell Zhao Junchen - he will never take refuge in Zhao Junchen and let Zhao Junchen give up his illusions!

After seeing Huo Zhengyuan's unusual polite attitude, Zhao Junchen naturally understood Huo Zhengyuan's intentions, but he did not show anything abnormal, but invited Huo Zhengyuan into the private room very friendly, and the two sides talked while eating.

It seems that Zhao Junchen still hasn't given up the idea of wooing Huo Zhengyuan.

on this. Huo Zhengyuan was a little helpless, and felt that Zhao Junchen was very pestering.

But at the same time. Seeing that Zhao Junchen valued himself so much, he was inevitably a little proud in his heart.

*

In the private room. The dishes and wine are ready, and we are ready to start the meal.

After Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan entered the private room, the two sides were divided into guests.

Then, without waiting for Zhao Junchen to speak, Huo Zhengyuan had already raised his glass and said to Zhao Junchen: "Speaking of which, this official went to Huai'an with Lord Zhao to investigate the case a few days ago, and thanks to Lord Zhao's reminder, this official was able to guess His Majesty's true intentions. Because of this, I won the favor of His Majesty, and it can be said that this official owes Lord Zhao a small favor, and this official is here to thank Lord Zhao! There will be rewards in the future! ”

Huo Zhengyuan's words can be described as very exquisite.

First of all, the so-called "not big or small favors" means that "this benefit is far from enough to buy me, and you Zhao Junchen don't think about coercing me to repay me"; Secondly, the so-called "there will be rewards in the future", that is, Huo Zhengyuan will definitely have something in return. But now the timing is sensitive and the situation is complicated, and it is not the time for Huo Zhengyuan to return the favor.

Obviously, Huo Zhengyuan's words seem enthusiastic, but in fact they are still hinting at Zhao Junchen - although the fall of Huang Yourong is inevitable. But I'm not going to take refuge in you.

Hearing Huo Zhengyuan's hint, Zhao Junchen's smile remained unchanged, and he had the same thoughts for Huo Zhengyuan. He had expected it and prepared for it.

I saw Zhao Junchen say with a smile on his face: "Master Huo, you are too polite. Credit is always more and more. Junchen is not the kind of cautious eye who monopolizes the favor of the saint, and the original thing is just that Junchen admires your intelligence and personality of Master Huo, so he just does it and makes a good fate, not expecting to reciprocate, Master Huo, you don't have to mind. ”

After speaking, Zhao Junchen changed his words and said: "Junchen invited Scholar Huo to a banquet today because he was really happy in his heart, and he wanted to find someone to talk to, so he suddenly thought of Scholar Huo, and wanted to share the joy in his heart with Scholar Huo. ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen's words, Huo Zhengyuan was slightly stunned and asked, "Oh, I don't know what happened, it made Lord Zhao so happy?" ”

Zhao Junchen smiled again and asked meaningfully: "I heard that Scholar Huo visited Shen Changmao and Shen Shoufu with Young Master Zhang and Lin Shangshu yesterday, presumably Scholar Huo already knows about what happened in the capital, right?" ”

Huo Zhengyuan subconsciously frowned, and a trace of surprise and anger flashed in his eyes.

Could it be that Zhao Junchen's so-called "happy event" refers to Huang Yourong's imminent fall and loss of power?

Recently, there have been a lot of open and secret battles between Zhao Junchen and Huang Yourong, and the two sides have become incompatible mortal enemies, and Huang Yourong is about to fall and lose power, which is indeed a great joy for Zhao Junchen.

However, although Huo Zhengyuan has a different heart, he is still Huang Yourong's henchman on the surface, Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan celebrated this matter, didn't they show off their might, fall into the well, and force Huo Zhengyuan and Zhao Junchen to turn their faces?

Vaguely, Huo Zhengyuan felt that Zhao Junchen would never be so superficial, so he suppressed the anger in his heart and said slowly: "Well, if Lord Zhao refers to the matter of His Royal Highness the Prince's rectification of commercial taxes, then the official naturally knows, but he doesn't know what the joy is about it?" ”

Zhao Junchen said with a smile: "In the opinion of Scholar Yihuo, is it good or bad that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has made such a drastic rectification of commercial taxes?" ”

Huo Zhengyuan shook his head and said: "This will naturally not be a good thing, although the commercial tax situation in our dynasty is chaotic, it is also very sensitive, involving the interests of all parties, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so drastic to rectify the commercial tax, it is tantamount to stirring up the situation in the government and the opposition into a puddle of troubled water, Your Majesty hurriedly returned to Beijing and returned, it is precisely to sit in the capital and stabilize the situation." ”

Zhao Junchen stroked his palm and said: "Scholar Huo is really insightful, there are many flaws in the commercial tax of our dynasty, everyone knows about this, but who really dares to touch it?" His Royal Highness the Prince's newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, but he stabbed a big basket! So, in the opinion of Scholar Yihuo, what will His Majesty think of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's actions? ”

Huo Zhengyuan thought for a moment and said: "Your Majesty has always been the first to stabilize the word for ten years, and His Royal Highness the Prince's actions have caused turmoil and uneasiness in the government and the opposition, and Your Majesty must be dissatisfied...... However, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the prince after all, and His Majesty will still protect him. ”

This time, Zhao Junchen first nodded, then shook his head again, and said: "In this matter, Your Majesty, out of various considerations, will certainly keep the crown prince and not let His Royal Highness the crown prince be affected, but even if Your Majesty can keep the crown prince for a while, how can he keep the crown prince I?" Let's calculate, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince began to participate in government affairs in October last year, and in less than half a year, he did a total of three things, the first of which was the preparation for the southern tour, but unfortunately this matter was finally messed up by His Royal Highness the Prince, which caused public resentment to boil, and His Royal Highness the Prince's reputation suffered a lot of losses; The second thing is the preparation of the fraud case in the southern tour, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually arrested hundreds of criminal officials in less than three months, which made all the officials of the Manchu Dynasty frightened and uneasy, and the prestige of the imperial court in the people was also damaged, which can be said to be a mess; As for the third thing, it was to stay in Beijing to supervise the country during His Majesty's southern tour, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually took this opportunity to start a commercial tax rectification......"

Speaking of this, Zhao Junchen laughed and asked meaningfully: "It can be said that in less than half a year, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has done three things, all of them have been messed up, and all of them have been stabbed into the big basket, His Royal Highness the Prince's vision, mind, and ability are all a little worrying!" For these, if we courtiers can see it, how can Your Majesty not see it? Next, His Majesty will certainly keep His Royal Highness the Crown Prince out of various considerations, but what about the future? Can Your Majesty really rest assured that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will hand over the Ming Dynasty to His Royal Highness the Prince? ”

Huo Zhengyuan's heart moved, and he asked instead of answering: "What does Lord Zhao mean that Your Majesty has now saved the mind of changing the reserve?" ”

Zhao Junchen answered the question and said, "Alas! Everyone in the world says that I Zhao Junchen is a saint, but at the age of twenty-six or seventeen, I am already in a high position, and my future prospects are limitless, but who knows that I am walking on thin ice and trembling in my heart? Although His Majesty treats me very well, but His Majesty's age is not young after all, and this Ming Dynasty will always belong to the prince in the future, but His Royal Highness the prince regards me as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh, and he can't wait to get rid of me, which often makes me sleepless all night, tossing and turning...... So, after learning about the capital, hehe......"

Speaking of this, Zhao Junchen had a smile of "everything is in plain sight".

On the other side, Huo Zhengyuan's heart moved slightly.

Huo Zhengyuan is reluctant to take refuge in Zhao Junchen, the biggest reason is the attitude of the prince Zhu Heyu towards Zhao Junchen, which is Zhao Junchen's biggest hidden danger! But if Emperor Deqing has already saved his mind to change his reserves, and the crown prince Zhu Heyu may not be the future Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, then Zhao Junchen's hidden worries will naturally disappear for the most part!

Perhaps, isn't it a bad choice to take refuge in Zhao Junchen?

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PS: I suddenly found that I had a lot of gray hair, and I was only 28......

…… (To be continued.) )