Zhu Youzhen's brows have never been loosened, and his face is cloudy.

Sitting in this position, he realized how chaotic the court situation was, as an emperor, he couldn't even find a trustworthy person!

That night, Zhou Qingli returned home and called Zhou Zheng to the study.

"The emperor wants you to go to the cabinet and serve as the cabinet secretary." Zhou Qingli said.

Zhou Zheng listened to Father Zhou's words and thought carefully.

The cabinet secretary, in fact, is the seventh grade, which is similar to the responsibilities of the head of the six ministries, they are all errands, the difference is that one serves the officials at all levels of the six ministries, and the other serves the cabinet ministers, with the same grade and different status.

But compared with the infinite scenery of the supervision of the imperial history, the cabinet book is much more inconspicuous.

Zhu Youzhen asked Zhou Zheng to go to the cabinet secretary, obviously not for promotion and reuse, but mostly for the 'eunuch party'.

Thinking about this, Zhou Zheng looked at Father Zhou and said, "What does the emperor want me to do?" ”

Zhou Qingli said: "The emperor didn't shy away from it, he asked you to keep an eye on the cabinet." ”

Zhou Zheng was a little stunned, obviously, Zhu Youzhen didn't trust Huang Liji and others, and he was suffering from no one under him, so he thought of him.

"When are you going?" Zhou Zheng asked.

Zhou Qingli said: "Tomorrow." ”

"Okay." Zhou Zheng didn't have any nonsense and responded directly.

The worried look in Zhou Qingli's eyes flashed, and she silently picked up the teacup.

There was a new emperor's handpick, Zhou Zheng was reinstated, and he was transferred to the cabinet secretary, without any obstacles, and before he went to the cabinet to report, a series of procedures were completed.

Cabinet, to be precise, he is not a member of the Ming system, not from beginning to end, it is developed from" the emperor's secretary ", starting from Zhu Yuanzhang, Chengzu, Xuanzong, etc. are still diligent, the cabinet has no real power, but with the lazy government of the emperor later, especially before Wanli was a minor, Zhang Juzheng monopolized the government, and the cabinet suppressed the six ministries with this power, essentially becoming the highest authority of the Ming Dynasty.

But even so, he did not have a perfect power structure, and his power came from the 'acquiescence of the emperor', and he did not have the 'discretionary power' of the six ministries.

Therefore, the cabinet is a special institution, in addition to the cabinet ministers, there are no servants of the six ministries, Lang Zhong officials at all levels exist, and the cabinet secretary plays a very important role.

Zhou Zheng stepped into the cabinet, and did not see the three cabinet ministers, only an old Chinese secretary led Zhou Zheng, went through the entry procedures, received the official uniform, and the token to enter and exit the palace gate, etc.

This old Chinese scholar looked to be in his fifties, hunched his waist, and said with a smile with Zhou Zheng: "Our cabinet is relatively idle, but there is nothing to run around, the master of ceremonies, Wenzhao Pavilion, Qianqing Palace, Liuke Langshu and others, anyway, just listen to the greeting......"

Zhou Zheng responded with a smile. The main job of the cabinet secretary is actually to do chores and run errands for those big people.

As he spoke, they came to a door and went straight in, where several people were drinking tea with their legs crossed, playing chess, reading books, and two of them were sleeping soundly, smelling of alcohol.

Lao Zhongshu looked at Zhou Zheng, pointed to a table not far away, and said with a smile: "You will get used to it in the future, that is your position." ”

Zhou Zheng thanked him and walked to his desk with his things.

Looking at the spotless table, Zhou Zheng didn't believe that it was these colleagues who were enthusiastic about helping, most of them were just gone.

Zhou Zheng sat down, glanced at his busy colleagues again, and began to familiarize himself with the rules of the cabinet.

The work of the cabinet is relatively boring, Zhou Zheng is drinking tea and reading until noon, and only two people are called out, and there is nothing Zhou Zheng has to do.

At noon, the old Chinese scholar looked at Zhou Zheng with a smile and said, "Let's go, let's go out to eat." ”

Zhou Zheng held the "Three Dynasties Classics" in his hand, put it down and looked up and said, "Where to eat?" ”

"For an hour, you can go anywhere, go, just congratulate you on your promotion." The old Chinese scholar said with a smile.

Zhou Zheng nodded, packed up his things and stood up.

Before the two of them went out, a young man who looked like an inner prison walked in, raised his head and said sharply: "Go, send some carbon to the ancestor." ”

Carbon?

Zhou Zheng was stunned, and he couldn't come back to his senses.

Lao Zhongshu hurriedly continued, and said with a smile: "Yes, I will arrange it." ”

The inner prisoner's chin was about to rise to the sky, and he snorted, turned around and walked away again.

Lao Zhongshu looked at Zhou Zhengdao and said, "You go first, I'll send some ice to the ancestor." ”

Listening to Lao Zhongshu's words, Zhou Zheng understood and said, "Okay." ”

Lao Zhongshu didn't say much, and left in a hurry.

Zhou Zheng stood at the door, his mind racing.

Ancestor, most of them refers to the Holy Lady Hakka. How is this lady behaving in the palace now?

Zhou Zheng had just come out of Daming Gate, and Cheng Economy greeted him with a smile on his face and said, "Dongjia, are you going to eat?" ”

Zhou Zheng looked at him and said with a smile: "The news is quite well-informed." ”

Cheng Economy smiled and said, "The owner is rising, how can we not be happy." ”

For Cheng Economy, Zhou Zheng's father Zhou Qingli is a close minister of the new emperor, and he is the young Zhan Shi of Zhan Shifu, which is far from enough. Zhou Zheng is now in the cabinet, although it is only a cabinet secretary, but for them, it is of great significance.

Zhou Zheng looked at both sides of Chang'an Avenue and thought to himself, since Cheng Jing knows, the people who should know almost all know it.

"Is there any other movement?" Zhou Zheng walked and asked.

Cheng Economy stood beside Zhou Zheng, understood what he meant, and said, "I've been staring at people, and there is no other movement, and so is Liu Gongzi's side." ”

Zhou Zheng nodded, whether it was Cui Chengxiu or the salt merchant, they seemed to be a little dependent, not as urgent as before, not only did they not talk to Zhou Zheng recently, but they also continued to exert pressure.

"Then did Yang Si send the things?" Zhou Zhengdao. That Yang Si took refuge in Zhou Zheng and sent the Yang family's business map, but Zhou Zheng asked for sixteen salt merchants, but he didn't come.

Cheng Economic said: "No, he hasn't appeared much recently. ”

Zhou Zheng's eyes were indifferent, these people are all snakes and rats, betting on multiple sides, and they will not give up until the end.

Soon!

Zhou Zheng muttered to himself in his heart, and then said: "There's nothing to celebrate, keep an eye on them for me." ”

Cheng Jingben wanted to talk more to Zhou Zheng, but seeing that he seemed to have something, he hurriedly said: "Yes, then I'll go first." ”

Zhou Zheng hummed, walked into the restaurant, and sat down in a box, he was ready to have a good chat with his colleagues, and learn more about the operation of the cabinet and some secrets that are not for outsiders.

At the same time, Huang Liji entered the palace with a notebook.

Zhu Youzhen looked at the notebook handed over by Huang Liji, and there was still a trace of expectation in his heart, but when he looked at it, his face was expressionless, and the anger in his eyes seemed to be burning.

This is Wei Zhongxian's henchmen approved by Huang Liji, in addition to the Wei family and the people of the Hakka family, there are also some internal supervisors in the palace, but in the court, almost no one's name is on it!

Zhu Youzhen's right hand was under the table, the bone finger he held was white, and the hatred and killing intent coexisted in his heart.

Wei Zhongxian's henchmen in the imperial court, that is well known, but in Huang Liji's recital, none of them are involved!

What does this mean, fooling him into being young and having just succeeded to the throne? Or did they not take him seriously at all, treating him as blind and deaf?