Since Fan Jin entered Beijing, this is the first time he has officially met Zhang Juzheng, the strongest man in the empire today. Judging from the current situation, although the Ming Dynasty is a large barrel country of absolute monarchy, it can be affected by age, and the underage emperor does not yet have the ability to grasp power, and the actual authority is in the hands of this first and auxiliary emperor.

In his previous life, I read his records in books and newspapers, and from Zhang Shunqing's mouth, I also heard his description of his father, and in Fan Jin's heart, the positioning of this old man was Cardinal Richelieu among the three musketeers, or a figure like Yi Yin Huoguang.

Wise, powerful, and wielding enormous power comparable to imperial power, he also has a matching intelligence and integrity. They have incarnated themselves as the patron saints of the Empire, and as long as they exist, they will not allow the Empire's regime to fall. But at the same time, it must be admitted that such a person is not liked, whether as a subordinate, a colleague or an emperor, he would not like to be so tall and strong enough to cover all the wind and rain and at the same time block all the sun's barrier.

The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it. When a person is too good and at the same time stands at the highest point of power, it will inevitably lead to suspicion and attack. When these people try to make some kind of adjustment to the existing distribution of interests through power, this kind of attack will come more violently and frequently, and even make people feel too many holes to bear.

Zhang Juzheng's age is close to fifty years old, and under the scientific and medical conditions of the Ming Dynasty, this age can be called an old man. But from his complexion and spirit, he can't see the slightest bit of old age. With a handsome face and a mature and stable temperament, it seems to be the style of an old male god.

Several children of the Zhang family have inherited their father's excellent genes, and they all have excellent appearances, and Zhang Juzheng is naturally not bad. But his powerful aura and majestic demeanor are enough to make people ignore his appearance, and what they remember in the end is often just a majestic aura like a mountain peak, and a heartfelt awe.

Fan Jin has seen many big officials, including Ling Yunyi, a governor who holds the power of life and death, and Feng Bao, a powerful eunuch. But compared to Zhang Juzheng, these two people are nothing.

There was no soldier in the room to strengthen the façade of the old man, but Fan Jin, a young man, felt inexplicably panicked and frightened when he faced an old man alone. The previous stealing with Zhang Shunqing, although he knew that there would be some trouble, but he only thought it was trouble, and it was not until he faced the old man at this time that Fan Jin could feel that it was not as simple as trouble, but a mistake, a big mistake.

When people feel wrong, their hearts are not as firm as they were at the beginning, and their legs are a little weak, so they can't help but kneel down. "Student Fan Jin, I've seen Xiangye."

"Sit down and talk. Dignified Huiyuan, you have to be a little bit of a Huiyuan, you yourself can have little guts, but you can't lose the face of our readers. ”

Zhang Juzheng was very satisfied with the pressure on Fan Jin from his powerful aura, and if he dared to steal his daughter, he had to be ready to be cleaned up by himself. If it weren't for his daughter's thoughts, he would still have a way to clean him up.

When Fan Jin sat down, Zhang Juzheng's eyes were firmly fixed on Fan Jin's face, and his eyes locked on Fan Jin's eyes. This way of looking at people is very impolite, and it is generally not used in social situations, but it may be used by thieves in the yamen. When you think about it, the same is true of Ben. The daughter who was raised by himself worked hard was stolen by a thief, and as a father, he naturally had to take a good look at what was so good about this thief.

There are countless high-ranking officials in the temple, but there are actually few who can withstand Zaifu's view. No matter how good Fan Jin is, at this time, he can't resist this gaze that is like substance. His heart was beating a little fast, and Fan Jin, who had always thought that he was not surprised, had to admit that his composure also had a limit. When facing a big guy like Zhang Juzheng, and he is indeed at fault, his emotions will inevitably fluctuate, or to put it more colloquially, he is a thief.

In his previous life, Fan Jin also had some experience of facing the superiors, but the social structure was different, the systems were different, the things he experienced were different, and the status of the so-called superiors was also different. He didn't have that kind of experience, and he couldn't find it to be found.

No matter whether it is a traverser or something else, it will not work on this occasion, as long as the other party is angry, he will immediately die without a place to bury. And the little martial arts I learned are meaningless at this time. Even if he is a master like Feng Mingqi, it is estimated that he can't even raise his hand in front of the old man, and he just obediently lets others slaughter him.

In such an environment, the concept of time becomes so vague and abstract that one loses its meaning. It wasn't until Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth to speak that Fan Jin recovered from this fugue state.

"Fan Huisi, I called you here today to talk to you about some business. Now that you've participated in the Spring Festival, you're going to get ready to run errands for the imperial court. Doing errands for the court is not something you can do when you are ready, you must also have this ability, otherwise you will harm others and yourself. Old man, there's a little stuff here, you take a look......"

In the embroidery building in the backyard, Aguli desperately dragged Zhang Shunqing, who was dressed in a man's attire, to prevent her from leaving the room. This beautiful woman from Persia is taller than ordinary men, has been engaged in dance training for a long time, has more developed sports cells, and is much stronger than Zhang Shunqing, a young lady, in terms of physical fitness. Especially because of the lack of tea and rice, Zhang Shunqing's physical strength and energy have declined, and she can't break free at all, but she still desperately wants to get rid of Aguli's shackles.

Aguli didn't dare to hurt Zhang Shunqing, and she didn't want her to leave the room, she was tired and sweating, as long as she hugged Zhang Shunqing and said, "Miss, calm down...... You're going to be angry, you're going to be angry...... You're a smart person and should know that you're making a stupid decision. ”

"I know, but I don't take a look, I can't be relieved. The old man has nothing to do to recruit him into the mansion, in case...... In case they have a quarrel, I'm going to save him. ”

"Calm down, the master won't do anything to him. Besides, even if it really wants to be against him, what can Miss do? ”

"It's a big deal that we can die together, but I'm definitely not going to watch Retreat hurt in front of my eyes. Either you let me go, or I'll die to show you. Zhang Shunqing said but finally found an opportunity to stomp heavily on Agul's bare feet, took the opportunity to get rid of the restraints, and ran towards the outside of the embroidery building. The barefoot Persian beauty didn't bother to put on her shoes, staggered and chased after her, trying to call her back as she went.

"Miss, you are now blinded by love, and your body is controlled by the devil. You should consider the following, whether it is good or bad for you to do this now. You should stay upstairs and wait for them to negotiate a result. Oh no, this is not a negotiation, but an examination of Fan Gongzi by the master. ”

"I can't care about that much! I just know that my father-in-law is in danger right now, and I can't do nothing. Even if the old man blames it, I admit it. ”

After passing through the Moon Gate, the man had already reached the front yard, where the man lived. Bypassing a few houses, two big men flashed out of the dark corner, "The master has an order......

"Get out of here!"

The girl let out a low cry, and the two guards obediently retreated to their hiding place. After four groups of guards in a row, the girl finally succeeded in reaching her destination, outside her father's study. Quietly went around to the back window, pierced a little window paper and looked in, what appeared in the sight was the haunting face, the girl's brain was blank in an instant, and she was far-sighted, and she didn't know where to fly at this moment. She could only see him in her eyes, where her husband was, she was there.

Fan Jin didn't notice the changes in the outside world, at this time his attention was completely attracted by what Zhang Juzheng gave him, and he also understood that this meeting was actually an informal exam. Considering Zhang Juzheng's current status, it is not too much to call this kind of exam a preliminary examination for the palace examination.

What Zhang Juzheng handed over to him was from Sanbiantang Daily. According to intelligence, the Zhongshun Wang Altan tribe, who accepted the canonization of the Ming Dynasty, began to gather troops and horses last year. According to the information announced to the outside world, this assembly was not a southward attack but a preparation for a westward advance, preparing to cross Gansu and go straight to the west. Regarding this military operation, I replied to the Ming side that I was going to lead troops west to welcome Buddha......

Zhang Juzheng's tone was serious, and his tone seemed to be discussing politics with his ministers in the court, and Fan Jin seemed to have become a subordinate in the same hall as him at this moment.

"Since the canonization of the Ministry of Aid, it is still called deferential, and Jianchuan (Wang Chonggu, the secretary of the military department) advocated the opening of border markets for mutual exchange, so that the Mongols would not have to suffer from iron tea, and would sell them grain if necessary. Prevent a large-scale famine in Mongolia. With these things, the captives will not think about the southern invaders, and the border has been peaceful for more than ten years. But now, I am clamoring to welcome the Buddha, and the battle is very large, and it is not easy for the court to restrain him. If it is really allowed to enter the West, the power of this captives will become more and more difficult to control, and some people are already preparing to impeach Jianchuan to nurture the enemy and raise the enemy, and relax the defense against favoritism. If this matter seems to you, who is the song, and how should it be handled? ”

Fan Jin knew very well that I answered the tribute was an important achievement of Zhang Juzheng, and it was also an important political achievement comparable to that of Longqing Switch. It is precisely because of the peace agreement that the northwest defense line of the Ming Dynasty has had a peaceful life for more than ten years, and the border army does not have to put up border defense every spring and autumn. The annual savings in military expenditure alone are a huge amount, let alone the number of human lives saved.

Of course, the opening of the horse market was accompanied by the opening of the tribute, which also provided huge business opportunities for Jin merchants. Relying on the control of the horse market, the Jinshang Group can obtain a large amount of profits every year, and among the people who promoted the tribute that day, the Jin merchants and their spokespersons accounted for the majority.

At that time, there were also many people who opposed the tribute, including Zhang Rong, who was the British Duke at the time, and they all opposed appeasing me. In their opinion, after he got the title of King Zhongshun, he would not really submit to the Ming Dynasty, but only be obedient in name, which would not be beneficial to the country, and might make a bad start, so that the tribes of the grassland would follow suit.

In general, the imperial court divided the Mongols into two major factions: the appeasement faction and the invasion faction. The former basically belong to the moderate faction, the latter is the radical faction, and some of them represent the interests of some border troops. It is hoped that through the war, the country will pour more resources into the side of the border army.

Originally, after I agreed to pay tribute, the interests were real, and the people who promoted this matter included Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong, and the radicals wanted to overturn the peace treaty, and it was not easy to start a war. This time, I replied to gather the soldiers to the west to welcome the Buddha, which can be regarded as giving these people a pretext.

Like the Mongols, they were nominally vassals of the Ming Dynasty. Although the loyalty of this vassal is very suspicious, after all, it is always flawed in reason to recognize the big brother of the Ming Dynasty in name and let him be beaten. Moreover, after all, I answered that he was a generation of heroes, and when Gengxu changed, he led the iron cavalry to surround the capital, which led to the beheading of the military department at that time, and the government and the opposition were shaken.

Although he is old now, no one dares to underestimate him after all. This time to gather a huge army, whether it is going to fight the West, or to attack the Ming Dynasty in the east, or to occupy the West as a base and seek misdeeds, no one can guess.

Even Chonggu, the king of the military department who tried to promote the tribute, did not dare to guarantee that the Mongols would not take action against the Ming Dynasty this time, and could only claim that it was not my intention to go west to welcome the Buddha. He also issued an order requiring officers and men from all walks of life to be more vigilant and vigilant, and then to inform the people of the West that the other side could do a good job of defense.

This arrangement is obviously not confident enough to prove that it has little confidence in the sincerity of our answer. The radicals naturally would not let go of this opportunity, and some people had already begun to attack the king in vain, suggesting that the imperial court take advantage of the emptiness in the rear of Alta West to send troops out of the fortress to fight, plunder the rear of Alta, and unite with the West to attack Alta.

Fan Jin is not interested in judging the rights and wrongs of the two factions, what he is interested in is only the position he needs to stand on, and the reason for speaking for his position.

The real temple test can't actually decide anything. To give yourself a jinshi or to be born with a jinshi, in fact, there is no difference, Hai Rui can be the governor of the sky with a lift, and in turn, there are not a few Jinshi who are depressed all their lives. Whether he can come out or not depends on Zhang Juzheng's attitude towards himself. It is today's test that can really determine one's fate, and it is much more important than the real palace test in a few days.

Zhang Juzheng's test does not engage in any policy and this kind of official examination questions, and directly throws himself to answer the actual questions. In the face of such a test, most of the people will be dizzy. After all, I didn't participate in the whole thing, and I don't know the ins and outs, so how can I put forward any useful insights.

Even Fan Jin is not a human being after all, he has only heard about this matter, and he lacks systematic intelligence, if he can immediately throw out an opinion and press me on the ground and rub it a few times, it is purely too much. What he has to consider is the excuse for the position of the two factions, and which side Zhang Juzheng is on.

Fighting a war cannot be regarded as a bad thing one-sidedly, but once a war starts, first of all, it is necessary to have huge financial expenses, and secondly, it is necessary to pour sufficient resources into the battlefield. In this way, the new law in China will be suspended, whether there are similar considerations behind these main battle factions, Fan Jin can't say it now, but he can't help but think about it. After a moment's thought, he spoke:

"Xiangye, the student thinks that since I am determined to go west, the imperial court will not be able to interfere. Nominally, Xifan, like Mongolia, is a vassal of my Ming Dynasty. However, these two retainers belong to the attitude of the imperial court, and in recent years they have been quite estranged, and they have nothing to pay except regular tribute. The two bundles of armor attack each other, Da Ming can interfere or not, it is okay to report the news to it, just don't go through the official, just report it in the form of a caravan in private. As long as Xifan has not invited soldiers, we don't have to do it. ”

"So, you're saying you're going to give up the West to Mongolia?"