In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, on the sixth day of the tenth month.

Zhou Zheng was dressed neatly and stood outside the Daming Gate.

Li Shi came out of the palace, stood in front of Zhou Zheng, and said in a low voice: "What you promised me, what are you going to do?" ”

Li Shi has been in the palace for decades, and the new emperor has been in the palace for more than half a month, but he has not had a chance to get close!

The new emperor was very vigilant about the people in the palace before, from food, clothing to every move, he was very cautious, and never let people he didn't trust approach, not to mention that Li Shi's traces were prominent, and he played this book to respond to Zhou Qiyuan, the governor of the sky, and forced Gao Panlong's eunuch hardcore to death.

Zhou Zheng looked at him and said, "I have my own way, you have to be cautious yourself, you don't need me to teach you, right?" ”

Li Shi used to see the wind and rudder, and said: "I have tried my best to separate myself from Eunuch Wei, and I am also ready to give the emperor a letter of nomination." ”

Zhou Zheng's brows moved slightly, he looked at this Li Shi deeply, and said quietly: "Okay." ”

Li Shi breathed a sigh of relief, the Zhou family is now a close minister of the emperor, Zhou Qingli is highly trusted, if he can use the Zhou family to become a confidant of the new emperor who has not yet gained a firm foothold, then his position in the palace can be maintained, or even further!

"Let's go." Li Shi turned around and led Zhou Zheng into the palace.

Today is the day when the new emperor Zhu Youzhen summoned Zhou Zheng.

Zhou Zheng stepped into the Daming Gate, looked at the majestic and illustrious Forbidden City, and secretly took a breath.

After passing through an unknown number of gates and going through stricter inspections than before, I came to the Qianqing Palace.

Qianqing Palace, East Warm Pavilion.

Zhou Zheng hadn't walked in yet, and Zhu Youzhen had already come out.

He was dressed in regular clothes, smiled amiably, and looked at Zhou Zhengdao: "Zhou Aiqing, come, I've been waiting for you for a while." ”

Zhu Youzhen is only sixteen years old, two years younger than Liu Liuzhe.

There is still a residual immature color on his face, and his every move is very kind, Corporal Lixian, and there is no such thing as an emperor should have.

Zhou Zheng glanced at him quietly, raised his hand and said, "Minister Zhou Zhengyun, see the emperor's ......"

Before Zhou Zheng finished speaking, Zhu Youzhen waved his hand and said, "Don't use these false courtesies, come, I have something to do with you." ”

Zhou Zheng saw that Zhu Youzhen had turned around, and still said 'Emperor Xie', and then walked in.

Zhu Youzhen sat down on the chair in the desk, looked at Zhou Zheng who came in, and said with an interested expression: "I heard that you built a library building and opened it up for people to read books?" ”

Zhou Zheng couldn't guess Zhu Youzhen's thoughts, and he was a little jealous of Emperor Chongzhen, who was suspicious and killed ministers in the future, and said with an unmoved expression: "Back to Your Majesty, there are countless poor people in my Ming Dynasty, they suffer from having no books to read, and they can't accept the education of the saints. ”

Zhou Zheng's words were concise and to the point, leaving aside words that might cause taboos.

Zhu Youzhen's face was full of approval, and said: "It is worthy of Mr. Zhou's son, you can have such a heart, I am very pleased, if I have more than a few like you, I don't know how many more Jinshi, raise people ......."

"Your Majesty has overdone it." Zhou Zhengdao.

Zhu Youzhen saw that Zhou Zheng was neither humble nor arrogant, and the more smiles on his face, he said, "I heard that you have a collection of more than 100,000 volumes?" And a library card? Give me one, I'm free, go and see if there are any books that aren't in the palace. ”

Zhou Zheng was still speculating about the purpose of Zhu Youzhen's visit, raised his hand and said, "Yes, Weichen will do it after he goes back and send it to the palace for His Majesty." ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled and shook his head, casually took a notebook in front of him, and said: "By the way, last time you impeached Wei Zhongxian and listed the list of eunuchs, do you think they are all eunuchs?" ”

Zhou Zheng's eyes moved, and then he nodded slightly, and said: "Back to Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that it will only be less, not more." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the book and said, "I know that Qingliu has always hated eunuchs and eunuchs, do you have any personal hatred here?" ”

Zhou Zheng's mind flickered, and he became more and more cautious: "Weichen only has state affairs in his heart, and he never has a personal grudge. ”

"Do you think that the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty are all eunuchs?" Zhu Youzhen still didn't look up, as if he was looking at the book seriously, and said casually.

Zhou Zheng couldn't guess Zhu Youzhen's current thoughts, so he pretended to think for a while, and said, "In Weichen's opinion, they are all of them." ”

"What about the palace?" Zhu Youzhen asked again.

Zhou Zheng pondered the wording and said, "The internal eunuchs in the palace are all loyal to the emperor, and so are the eunuchs of Wei. ”

Zhu Youzhen was a little surprised by this answer, and the hand holding the notebook paused, and then said: "What do you think of Li Shi's impeachment of Zhou Qiyuan?" ”

Li Shi's impeachment gave the Donglin Party the last blow, causing the Donglin Party to suffer a heavy blow and completely withdraw from the court.

Zhou Zheng didn't expect Zhu Youzhen to ask Li Shi directly, and he pondered for a while, and said: "The minister learned about this matter in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and there is a reason for it." ”

Zhu Youzhen was silent for a while, then suddenly raised his head and said, "Who do you think can take responsibility for the affairs of Liaodong?" ”

Zhu Youzhen's topic changed very quickly, and Zhou Zheng didn't know whether Li Shi's answer satisfied Zhu Youzhen, so he thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Sun Laoge is the old man who will not let go." ”

Zhou Zheng is talking about Sun Chengzong, the Jiliao Governor of the fifth year of the Apocalypse, who was resigned because of the eunuch party structure, and he was angry.

Zhu Youzhen was a little surprised, was quiet for a while, and said, "What do you think is the top priority of Daming?" ”

"Money and food." Zhou Zheng blurted out.

In fact, there are many problems in the Ming Dynasty, the key is in the rule of officials, a group of corrupt and incompetent officials, do you expect them to prosper the Ming Dynasty?

But Zhou Zheng can't say that the system of the Ming Dynasty is already the closest to the descendants, Zhu Youzhen will not change, that is the ancestral system, and it cannot be changed.

Zhu Youzhen didn't know that Zhou Zheng's words were not finished, a smile appeared on his face again, and said: "Well, you are still very accurate in looking at the problem, and some views on the affairs of Liaodong in the court are very predictable, and they are worthy of being cultivated by Mr. Zhou." ”

Zhou Zheng stood and didn't speak, the three questions asked by Zhu Youzhen seemed to be the school examiner, but in fact, they were also what Zhu Youzhen was most concerned about.

Zhu Youzhen sat on the chair and looked at Zhou Zheng, as if he was thinking about something, and after a while, he suddenly woke up and said, "Oh yes, you don't have an official position yet, right?" Where do you want to go? ”

Zhou Zheng opened his mouth and wanted to say that he wanted to go to Yongping Mansion, but what came out of his mouth was: "Where the emperor needs Weichen to go, Weichen will go." ”

Zhu Youzhen seemed to be very satisfied with Zhou Zheng's answer, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou said that you have an upright temperament, jealousy and hatred, lack of forbearance, do not know how to advance and retreat, and cannot stand in the court. ”

Zhou Zheng raised his hand and said, "Wechen really broke my father's heart, and Wechen is ashamed." ”

Zhu Youzhen saw that Zhou Zheng was cautious and silent, thinking about his impassioned attitude in the court several times, and daring to write a book to impeach an eunuch like Wei Zhongxian, guessing that he was told by Zhou Qingli, the more he smiled, and without waiting for him to speak, an internal supervisor stood outside the door and said, "Long live Lord, Shoufu is here." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Zhou Zheng with some regret and said, "I wanted to talk to you more, but it seems that I can only wait for next time." ”

Zhou Zheng raised his hand knowingly and said, "Weichen retreats." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Zhou Zheng and nodded slightly.

Zhou Zheng came out of the Dongnuan Pavilion, and he was greeted by Shoufu Huang Liji.

Huang Liji was thinner than before, his expression was more and more dignified, and he was a little more powerful than when he was at the time of the apocalypse.

Huang Liji looked at Zhou Zheng, frowned slightly, did not speak, and went straight into the Dongnuan Pavilion.

Zhou Zheng and Huang Liji staggered, curious, what is Huang Liji's current position?

He is also a eunuch, Wei Zhongxian was attacked, Zhu Youzhen's attitude is unpredictable, how can he deal with himself?

For these veteran bureaucrats who have been in the sea for a long time, it is difficult for Zhou Zheng to guess their true thoughts, so he didn't think much about it and slowly walked out of the palace.

Li Zhong happened to come in a hurry from not far away, and when he saw Zhou Zheng, his expression was slightly shocked, and he immediately lowered his head and walked quickly to the Dongnuan Pavilion.

Zhou Zheng also didn't seem to know him, and continued to leave the Qianqing Palace.