A row of houses next to the Longzong Gate in the Forbidden City is the office of a scholar in the Ming Dynasty. Among these houses, the most spacious and brightly lit one is the current office of Shoufu Zhou Yanru.

The temperature in midsummer, coupled with the fact that Zhou Yanru was wearing a neat official robe for the sake of etiquette, made the current Zhou Yanru sweaty. And at this moment, there was a little eunuch serving Zhou Yanru and his scholars outside the door, and whispered to Zhou Yanru: "Elder Zhou Ge, the emperor gave each scholar some ice cubes, I don't know if the slaves can enter the house?" ”

"Come in!" Zhou Yanru immediately cheered up and returned to Shoufu's solemn appearance.

The little eunuch outside the door entered the house lightly, and placed two basins filled with ice cubes in the room, and the temperature in the room dropped at once.

Zhou Yanru stood up, meticulously saluted the two ice basins and said, "Thank you for the emperor's reward!" ”

After the little eunuch left, Zhou Yanru immediately relaxed and couldn't help yawning several times in succession. Last night, Zhou Yanru was really tired.

Last night, an important guest came to Zhou Yanru's mansion, that is, Zhang Pu, one of the leaders of the Restoration Society. After Zhou Yanru became the first assistant, in order to consolidate his power, he introduced the Fushe, which inherited the political legacy of the Donglin Party, as an Austrian aid, and Zhang Pu's visit last night was to discuss how the two sides could strengthen cooperation again.

For the center of the Ming Dynasty in the fourth year of Chongzhen, the Tartars outside the gate are not important, and the chaotic people in Shaanxi are also unimportant.

And Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty who had just come to power, in order to become the chief examiner of this examination, he even broke the rule that the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty could not become the chief examiner, and passed the trust of Emperor Chongzhen in him, and Zuihou did his best to obtain this position.

And the reason why Zhou Yanru did this was because there was a very important person to participate in this meeting, that is, Zhang Pu, one of the leaders of the Restoration Society. Not only that, but there were also some other important members of the Fusha Society who participated in the examination.

Zhou Yanru planned to do so, by admitting those members of the Restoration Society, Zhou Yanru would be able to become the teacher of those members of the Restoration Society. With this teacher-student relationship, Zhou Yanru was able to take the political liliang of the Restoration Society into his own hands.

Then, in this examination, a large number of members of the Restoration Society were on the list. And it also occupies the position of champion and tanhua. In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can understand that if there is no cheating in this meeting, then it is hell.

Of course, Zhang Pu unsurprisingly became a jinshi. However, this Jinshi was quite bullish, and he actually judged Tanhua's examination papers after the examination. You must know that that kind of judgment is only qualified by highly respected ministers in the court, and Zhang Pu, as a Jinshi who has just been on the list, can do such an incredible thing as success, and it can also be seen how huge his energy is.

Therefore, although Zhou Yanru wanted to accept the Shili of the Restoration Society, he still regarded the members of the Restoration Society as his subordinates and students.

But Zhang Pu, who has huge energy, doesn't see it that way. He believes that Zhou Yanru and himself are equal, and the relationship between the two sides is just to use each other. And last night's visit was nothing more than to find a balance point of cooperation between the two sides.

Therefore, although in last night's meeting, Zhou Yanru and Zhang Pu were still polite and thoughtful on the surface, but secretly, the words of the two of them were constantly sharp. After some fierce bargaining, the two barely found that balance.

Of course, Zhou Yanru's fatigue is not only because of the scheming with Zhang Pu last night, but also because after sending Zhang Pu away yesterday, Zhou Yanru went to the bedroom and tasted the pair of sister flowers that the rich businessman gave him.

For Zhou Yanru, it is important to hold the power of the world, and it is also very important to be drunk and lying on the knees of beauty. Of course, the most important thing is one word - "money". As a former champion, Zhou Yanru's article must be extremely haode, but the word "morality" in front of the article has nothing to do with Zhou Yanru.

Just when Zhou Yanru was flying outside the clouds, someone outside the door shouted: "Old Zhou Ge, the emperor has a summons." ”

When Zhou Yanru arrived at Emperor Chongzhen, he found that Emperor Chongzhen had summoned him, in addition to himself, the first assistant, there was also a scholar, that is, Wen Tiren. In addition, there are several officials from the military department and the household department.

After seeing Zhou Yanru, Emperor Chongzhen immediately got down to business and asked: "Today, Liaodong is coming, in Dalinghe City, the slave chieftains have gathered a large army to attack, what do you think about this?" ”

In any case, Zhou Yanru, as the first assistant, also had to answer Emperor Chongzhen's question first: "Your Majesty, this Sun Ge Lao knows the military situation very well, and when he proposed to build Dalinghe City, he must also worry about the obstruction of the slave chieftains, and he must have a strategy to deal with it. And the cabinet also discussed this matter, thinking that it was better to respect the old Sun Pavilion. As the so-called generals will not be subject to the orders of the monarch outside, let Sun Ge Lao be random. ”

Zhou Yanru's answer was very slippery, and he refused to take the responsibility on his shoulders. For Zhou Yanru, in this matter, it is best to maintain an ambiguous attitude. If Sun Chengzong wins, as the first assistant, he will definitely have the credit of strategizing; In case Sun Chengzong fails, the guilt of defeat will also be borne by Sun Chengzong himself.

However, Zhou Yanru's answer made Emperor Chongzhen a little dissatisfied, and he then asked: "Then the cabinet scholars just sit idly by. ”

Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen was a little angry, Zhou Yanru continued: "That's not the case. The change in the situation of the battle, the center is not present, it is difficult to judge. But the center will also really support Liaodong, which is nothing more than money and people. ”

"Oh? Can you elaborate on that? ”

"This money, for the sake of long-term peace and stability in the world, we have to levy additional salaries. This person, the Liaodong army is honest and has Sun Ge's old strategy, but the center must also be prepared for the unspeakable. Although the garrison of the passes of the Great Wall and Jingfu is important, it is also necessary to gather soldiers and horses from all sides and be ready to go out at any time to rescue Dalinghe City. ”

After listening to Zhou Yanru's eloquent talk, Emperor Chongzhen's face softened. He nodded and said, "Zhou Aiqing's words are old and becoming. But I have a question, how can the people of Li afford the relevy of Liao's salary? ”

In fact, since the time of Emperor Wanli, in order to fight against the Houjin army in Liaodong, the Ming Dynasty court has been leviing Liao salaries on the common people, and later because of the financial difficulties of the Ming Dynasty, this temporary tax has become a long-term tax.

Seeing that Zhou Yanru was always in the limelight, Wen Tiren on the side said: "The emperor is merciful, and his heart is sent to all the people in the world." But the long pain is better than the short pain, for the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, this move must also be done. After pacifying the slave chieftains, the emperor can also be exempted from taxes to show the emperor's grace. ”

"Good! What Wen Aiqing said is reasonable! Emperor Chongzhen immediately accepted Wen Tiren's opinion. In fact, Emperor Chongzhen is such a character, that is, he wants to do something that violates Confucian morality, but he is unwilling to say this kind of thing out of his mouth. It is the standard to be a bitch and set up a torii. As for Emperor Chongzhen's character, the ministers around him have actually figured it out for a long time, so this time Wen Tiren said Emperor Chongzhen's thoughts on behalf of him in order to win the favor of Emperor Chongzhen.

But what these ministers don't know is that Emperor Chongzhen also has a character, if that kind of proposal causes bad consequences, he will immediately turn his face and deny people, and use thunderous means to punish those proposed ministers.

Therefore, if those ministers now knew that Emperor Chongzhen had this character, maybe they would think twice about using this method to please Emperor Chongzhen.