With Lu Qi's appearance, Cui Chengxiu sent someone to inform Fan Yunsheng that afternoon that he had a date in Cuiyunyuan in the east of the city tonight, and he would have time to meet others after the date was completed.

Obviously, although Cui Chengxiu accepted the instructions of the palace, he was not interested in having an in-depth conversation with Zhang Pu, and he didn't even plan to give the other party a chance to have dinner. This shows the depth of his resentment towards this leader of the Restoration Society.

Fan Yunsheng, who received Cui Chengxiu's notice, was also a little uneasy about this result. Since he has placed his bet on Zhang Pu, he naturally doesn't want the other party to encounter any setbacks.

Although Cui Chengxiu has a poor reputation among the southern gentry, he can be regarded as a tiger in Hebei, and his niece made an exception to enter the palace, and successfully gave birth to a prince in March this year. Although Jinshang is still quite prosperous in terms of heirs, even if he died two sons and one daughter, he still left six sons and three daughters, and the son of Concubine Xuan's Cui family is only ranked sixth.

But Chongzhen is only 31 years old this year, and this son of heaven is not different from his father, but he loves to go out and cruise. He often rode around the prefectures and counties near Gyeonggi on horseback, and at least twice a month he had to inspect the North Gate Camp and the Fengtai Camp.

Therefore, everyone believes that the time of Chongzhen's arrival in the dynasty must be able to surpass that of Emperor Jiajing and Emperor Wanli. In this way, there are at least 3 to 40 years of pro-government time left today. So at the moment, it remains to be said whether these princes can survive this father, so the six princes who have just been born are not without a chance.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, in order to prevent the emergence of powerful relatives in the court, the families of the concubines are all chosen by the common people or the homes of low-level military attachés. A high-ranking official like Cui Chengxiu can actually marry the emperor, which is really one of the few people in the past dynasties. Of course, this is also why no one expected that Cui Chengxiu, who was driven back to his hometown, would have a chance to recover, and the emperor would personally go out of Beijing to fight against the Houjin invasion of Jizhou, and by the way, Cui Chengxiu's niece was brought back to the capital.

Concubine Xuan had not come out before, and she closed her eyes and pretended not to see it. But with the birth of the little prince this year, things have slowly changed. Of course, in the eyes of businessmen like Fan Yunsheng who are not sensitive enough to politics, the value of Bachelor Cui, who is a relative of the country, has risen again, so if Zhang Pu wants to plan anything in the capital, he still can't make enemies with the other party, otherwise this crooked mouth in front of the emperor will be ruined.

Therefore, when Cui Chengxiu showed disdainful malice, Fan Yunsheng regretted it a little, knowing that Cui Chengxiu had such an attitude towards Zhang Pu, he promised Zhang Pu to contact the other party, but it was a little reckless. However, the matter has come to this point, and he can no longer refuse the other party, so he has to tell Zhang Pu what Cui Chengxiu meant.

Zhang Pu was not too excited about Cui Chengxiu's almost humiliating way of meeting, and after inquiring about the location of the meeting, he asked Fan Yunsheng to book a cross-courtyard for himself in the place where Cui Chengxiu feasted, and prepared to use it for his own waiting and meeting with the other party.

Fan Yunsheng set the yard and personally took Zhang Pu to Cuiyun Garden in the east of the city. When he arrived at the place, Zhang Pu, who got out of the carriage, turned around and stopped Fan Yunsheng from continuing to get off, "Fan Yuanwai doesn't have to come down, Yu's current identity is quite embarrassing, if Yuanwai goes in and out of here with Yu, if he is recognized by someone with a heart, it will not be a good thing."

Besides, when Yu met with Bachelor Cui this time, the other party probably didn't want to see anyone else. It's better to go home first, what are the results of today's meeting, and when we meet tomorrow, Yu Zi will tell each other one by one. ”

Fan Yunsheng, who was already a little upset in his heart, looked at the calm expression on Zhang Pu's face, and finally didn't dare to disobey the other party's will. So he explained a few words to the servants on the side of the carriage and asked them to serve Zhang Pu well, then he retracted his steps, said goodbye to Zhang Pu in the carriage, and then urged his coachman to leave.

When the drunken Cui Chengxiu, under the leadership of the servant, walked into the room where Zhang Pu was, he happened to see the other party standing in front of the window and looking up at the night sky with his head up, and he didn't come up to greet him at all, and he felt a little unhappy in his heart.

He casually sent the servant out of the door, and saw that there was no wine or food on the table in front of him, only a pot of tea, two cups, and a fruit plate. He didn't bother to bother with the other party, so he went straight to the table and sat down, reached out and took the empty cup and poured himself a cup of tea, and said unceremoniously.

"You and I have never had much friendship with each other, but there are a lot of old grudges. I really don't know what you have to talk about with me, the leader of the eunuch party, but you have asked people to come over and ask for help again and again, and I can't refute other people's face, so I went on this way.

But don't think too much about it, I'm not here to promise you anything, please excuse me and the like, lest you embarrass everyone when you say it. As for other things, you can say it if you want to, if you don't want to say it, when I drink this cup of tea, we will see it today. ”

Listening to Cui Chengxiu's domineering words, Zhang Pu, who was standing at the window, did not show a look of shame, he just looked at Cui Chengxiu who was drinking water in silence, until the other party was about to finish drinking a cup of tea, and then said in a calm tone: "I asked to see the bachelor this time, but I didn't want to ask the bachelor for anything, but to solve the bachelor's trouble." ”

Cui Chengxiu, who was about to drink the tea in the cup, was stunned for a moment, he slowly put down the teacup that was about to bottom, looked at Zhang Pu and said with a smile: "Could it be that I drank too much just now, and my ears are not good?" What did you just say, you Zhang Tianru came to see me, did you come to relieve me? Did I drink too much today, or did you drink too much? ”

"Haha." Zhang Pu suddenly laughed a few times, then took a few steps and sat down opposite Cui Chengxiu, looked into the other party's eyes and said, "Why should the bachelor pretend to be stupid, what is the difference between the current situation of the bachelor and the single-plank bridge blocked on the cliff." Moving forward and retreating involuntarily, a little careless fall down, under the feet is a shattering cliff, don't you need help from others? ”

Cui Chengxiu's drunkenness suddenly went to three points, he finally became serious, and looked at Zhang Pu with a calm look in his eyes, and saw the other party's unyielding eyes, so he pouted and said: "Zhang Tianru, you are pretending to be amazing, who are you trying to scare?" Could it be that you think that with just a few big words, you can bluff the official and ask you, a guilty person, for advice? If you have the ability, why don't you give your own exile first, and don't come and tease the official. ”

After Cui Chengxiu finished speaking, he planned to get up and no longer give the other party a chance to entangle himself. But he only raised half of his buttocks slightly, but Zhang Pu looked at him and sneered and said, "If the bachelor thinks that the future of the Cui clan is not worth anything, and it is inconvenient to stay in the fall, then the bachelor please take care of yourself." ”

Hearing Zhang Pu's words, Cui Chengxiu sat back again, he looked at the other party with a dark face and said, "Zhang Tianru, I have already given you enough face today." But you still dare to threaten me with the future of my Cui clan, do you really think Lao Tzu is a sick cat? I'm going to listen now, and if you can't tell why, then don't blame me for being rude. Although I can't punish you, I can still do it if I let you go back overseas to continue serving your sentence. ”

For Cui Chengxiu's intimidation, Zhang Pu took it as a deaf ear, he took out a folding fan from his sleeve unhurriedly, and said with a smile: "Why do you want to do such a bluff, I only ask the bachelor, in the more than 200 years of my Ming Dynasty, which relative can sit in the position of the first assistant of the cabinet?"

Although the bachelor is not the father of His Royal Highness Concubine Xuan, he is also his own uncle. Bachelor, is it true that the whole hall of my Ming Dynasty is dead? As a relative, dare to seek the position of first assistant? It can be asserted below that once the name of the bachelor appears in the list of Tingtui, the Cui family must be jealous of the Manchu Dynasty civil and military, has the scholar ever thought about the future of himself and his relatives? ”

Cui Chengxiu couldn't help but shudder at the back of his head, and the rest of the wine was suddenly gone, he stared at Zhang Pu viciously, and said in a stiff tone: "Who are you representing to see me, Qian Qianyi or Wen Tiren?" ”

Zhang Pu still had a smile on his face, he shook his head and said: "Why is the bachelor like this, I haven't already explained to the bachelor just now, I'm just here to represent myself, not a lobbyist for anyone." Besides, how did the two of them move me? ”

couldn't see the clue from the other party's face, Cui Chengxiu simply closed his eyes to adjust his mood, then opened his eyes, and finally said without anger: "In this case, please ask Brother Tianru for some advice, how do you want to solve my trouble." ”

Zhang Pu reached out and took the teapot, refilled Cui Chengxiu's teacup with some water, and then said: "Actually, I also know that the bachelor can't retreat now."

Over the years, the gentry who followed behind the bachelor have invested so much in you, and even did not hesitate to take out their own land to respond to the call of the bachelor to carry out land reform, in order to hope that the bachelor could enter the cabinet and take over the position of first assistant. As long as the bachelors can enter the center, then their investment will naturally get a sufficient return.

But does the bachelor really dare to take this step? The reason why the bachelor has vigorously promoted land reform in the north in recent years is that the north has suffered disasters for many years, and the power of the gentry in the northern provinces has been greatly hit, coupled with His Majesty's reform of the border army and the Beijing camp, so that the imperial court has an absolute advantage in force, and the bachelor can force those local gentry to make concessions.

However, the provinces south of the Yangtze River have always been the land of wealth of our Ming Dynasty, and the local powerful forces are so great that even local officials have to retreat. What's even more troublesome is that the world has been peaceful for too long, and these gentry and wealthy families in the south have married each other, and the relationship is far closer than that in the north.

The Bachelor's implementation of land reform in the north has long been hated by them. At present, the south has not been able to fully implement land reform, isn't it because there is too much local resistance? The bachelor in charge of this task now wants to seek the position of first assistant to the cabinet, how can he not provoke a full-scale counterattack from the southern gentry.

That's why I said that the bachelor is in a dilemma right now. As for solving this dilemma, I think there are two things that must be done. First, the Bachelor should find a person to replace him in the position of Cabinet Minister; Second, this hot potato for the implementation of land reform should also be handed over to this person. Then the bachelor can then watch the fire from the other side and take himself off the stove..."

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