Thinking of this, Yuan Chonghuan sighed heavily in his heart and looked at Ji Qingwen with a pair of calm eyes.

Ji Qingwen was also raising his eyes to look at Yuan Chonghuan's face at this moment, the two looked at each other, suddenly felt embarrassed, and immediately looked away.

At this time, I heard Emperor Chongzhen say again: "Although the matter of asking the palace to pay for military training has not violated the ancestral system, there has never been a precedent. ”

Ji Qingwen didn't think so in his heart - he also knew that Emperor Chongzhen's mind was nothing more than that after the vassal kings had military power in their hands, they would repeat the good drama of Zhu Di, the king of Yan, two hundred years ago; But in fact, after so many years of breeding, those clan princes in the Ming Dynasty have long been no different from stupid pigs, otherwise after the death of Emperor Chongzhen in history, Nanming would not have died so simply.

"Alright. It's not too early now, let's work harder and do some chores, and a few Aiqing can retire and rest. I'm going to get ready to go to court. Chongzhen said again.

Sun Chengzong was stunned when he heard this, and tears suddenly burst out of his eyes: "Holy Lord, when people are old, they will naturally talk more." I am not afraid that the emperor will dislike the minister's trivial speech, but the minister still has to persuade the emperor to take care of his body, the emperor's dragon body is healthy, which is the blessing of all officials, the blessing of the community, and the blessing of the people! ”

Seeing this, Chongzhen got up with a smile and patted Sun Chengzong's shoulder: "I know." ”

After that, he shouted to the eunuchs waiting outside the door, and asked them to bring two bowls of ginseng soup, one bowl for themselves to drink, and the other bowl for Sun Chengzong, as for Yuan Chonghuan and Ji Qingwen, they could only stand aside and watch.

After Sun Chengzong drank a bowl of ginseng soup with tears, Chongzhen said again: "Teacher Sun has eaten my things, so he has to do one more thing for me." ”

Sun Chengzong hurriedly put down the empty bowl in his hand and said, "The emperor has issued an order. ”

Chongzhen smiled, pointed at Ji Qingwen and said: "This dog is going to be a weaver in Suzhou, and he can't do it without a will." Then I will bother Mr. Sun to write and draw up a will for this dog, and I can use it again. ”

There are ready-made pen, ink, paper, and inkstones in the Qianqing Palace.

So Sun Chengzong took the imperial pen of Huzhou's tribute, soaked it with the fragrant ink made in Huizhou, and wrote it on the golden-painted paper carefully made by skilled craftsmen in Xuancheng.

Emperor Chongzhen stood aside and watched, but his mouth did not stop, and he babbled: "It should be the responsibility of the cabinet scholars to prepare. But I can't look down on any of the people left by the emperor's brother. Now among these officials in the imperial court, I think that only Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru have some talents, and the rest are just clay straw figures. But I heard that these two people are not very good character. Alas! If you want to find a few talents with both ability and political integrity, why is it so difficult? Why don't you use a few Donglin Party members who are idle at home? ”

Sun Chengzong didn't answer, he calmed down, wrote a holy decree, read it and dried the ink, and said "Okay", then got up and held it to Chongzhen, and said: "Ten years of trees, a hundred years of people." It is a good thing that the emperor is thirsty for talents, but talents must be cultivated and promoted slowly, and he is not in a hurry. ”

Chongzhen took the holy decree, took a skimming look at it, then walked to the dragon book case, stamped the newly engraved "Chongzhen's Treasure" seal on the register, and still chanted: "It's all to blame Wei Zongxian, this eunuch, if Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou are still there, why are I so overstretched to select a few cabinet ministers?" ”

Sun Chengzong replied: "When the emperor mentioned Zuo Guangdou, he remembered that he had a student named Shi Kefa, who also took the exam. He is young and has good conduct, but he doesn't know what his talents are. Please also pay attention to the emperor. ”

Chongzhen said: "Zuo Guangdou's students, Donglin Party members!" It's a pity that not all the people in the Donglin Party are good......"

As he spoke, Chongzhen took the holy decree, walked in front of Ji Qingwen in person, and said: "Ji Qingwen, this holy decree has just been prepared, it's too late to frame it, you take it, and you can go to Nanzhili to take up your post." As for how to hand over, your teacher Sun will arrange someone to teach you. ”

Sun Chengzong immediately reminded on the side: "Ji Qingwen, don't you kneel down to receive the order?" ”

Ji Qingwen bent his knees, quickly knelt on the ground, took over the hard-won holy decree, and suddenly asked: "Your Majesty, the minister dared to ask for advice, and asked the emperor to show me." ”

Chongzhen's face was already full of fatigue, and said, "If there is something, you can say it." ”

Ji Qingwen deliberately kowtowed and said, "Fang Caichen heard that the emperor intends to recruit talents. But Li Yan, who participated in the examination with his ministers, was outstanding in his studies and good in his articles, but he didn't know why he failed in the examination......"

Before Ji Qingwen finished speaking, Chongzhen said: "I have read Li Yan's article, and it is better than that of Liu Ruozai, a member (first place in the examination). It's a pity that his father Li Jingbai is a eunuch, and I am liquidating the eunuch forces, how can I take another eunuch son in this exam? ”

Ji Qingwen hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, that day at the Liansheng Inn, Li Yan ripped Wei Zhongxian's note in public, which shows that he has drawn a clear line with the eunuch party, and he can't talk with the eunuch party on the same day!" ”

Chongzhen yawned and said, "Okay, I know. Now that the emperor list has been examined, there is no room for change, so ask him to take the exam again. ”

Ji Qingwen still had to argue, and Sun Chengzong in front of him immediately said: "The sky is about to dawn, the emperor still has to go to the court, Yuan Chonghuan, Ji Qingwen, why don't you kowtow to the emperor and say goodbye?" ”

Ji Qingwen knelt on the ground and kowtowed in confusion; Yuan Chonghuan was standing, listening to the teacher's words, so he also knelt down beside Ji Qingwen and kowtowed to Chongzhen.

Emperor Chongzhen was already extremely sleepy, waved his hand and asked the three of them to retreat, seeing that there was still more than an hour before the start of the early dynasty, he sent the eunuch to come up and wait for him to take a nap.

As soon as the three of them withdrew from the Qianqing Palace, Sun Chengzong grabbed Yuan Chonghuan and asked, "Chonghuan, you just said to the emperor that you can pacify Liaodong in five years, what basis do you have for this?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan looked dazed and said: "Five years is a false finger, but the students see that the emperor is enterprising, and they answer casually......"

Sun Chengzong sighed: "Alas! Although the emperor is young, he is the lord of Yingcha. You said this casually, the emperor has already remembered in his heart, if the five-year period has arrived, Liaodong has made no progress, the emperor wants to treat you for the crime of bullying the king, I don't know who can protect you? ”

Yuan Chonghuan muttered a few words, stiffened his neck, and said: "As long as the power is unified and the money and food are sufficient, I don't think it will be impossible to succeed in five years." ”

Sun Chengzong saw Yuan Chonghuan's self-righteous appearance, and just wanted to persuade him again, but unexpectedly Yuan Chonghuan arched his hand to him and said: "Teacher, you have also been busy all night, please go back early to rest, don't burn your body." ”

After saying that, Yuan Chonghuan saluted Sun Chengzong, glanced at Ji Qingwen with slanted eyes, turned his body, and stopped talking.

At this moment, the eunuch on duty saw that these people had come out of the Qianqing Palace, so they hurriedly greeted them, bowed down and said, "How many adults have said good things to the emperor?" If you don't have a miscellaneous family, you will wait for you to leave the palace. ”

Sun Chengzong nodded: "Then there is Gonggong Lao." ”

The eunuch saw that Li Yuanyin, who had been resting for a long time, also walked up, so he said: "It just so happens that Lord Li of Jinyiwei is also here, so the miscellaneous family will lead the way, and Lord Li will escort you out of the palace." ”

At this moment, it was already whitening in the east, and a white mist rose from the ground under the steaming of the sun, enveloping the huge Forbidden City in his embrace. The smell of this haze was fishy and smelly, as if it was soaked in the blood and filth of the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years, and Ji Qingwen couldn't help but sneeze several times.

When Ji Qingwen finally got used to this choking taste, he was already outside the Forbidden City.

The eunuch who led the way naturally went back to the palace, and Li Yuanyin, the commander of Jinyiwei, also retreated, and even Yuan Chonghuan left under the pretext of preparing the chapter, and outside the palace gate that was locked again, only Sun Chengzong and Ji Qingwen were left.

I only heard Sun Chengzong sigh at him, a newly accepted student: "This Yuan Chonghuan is too much like the old man back then, he has the ability and good character." It's a pity that he speaks too straightforwardly and doesn't know how to be flexible, maybe he will die from his stinky temper in the future. ”

Ji Qingwen left the palace, his mood relaxed a lot, and he spoke casually: "It's not, if his temper becomes a piece of meat, I'm afraid it stinks so much that he can't even be too lazy to bite a fly." ”

Sun Chengzong nodded and said: "It is also because the old man cherished talents and was overly arrogant. It's good that you know this in your own heart, and don't talk nonsense in the future. You are now hand-picked Suzhou weaving, pay attention to the official body, you know? There is also your friend named Li Yan, his father used to be the secretary of the military department, and if you don't understand the rules of officialdom, you can ask him. ”