As a newcomer to the court, especially a new official who is facing the monarch for the first time, Zhang Xu's accompaniment and intrigue are still in the theoretical stage. In particular, he has the same problems as many newly promoted officials and scholars who have begun to achieve results after showing their strength--Shangyu's outstanding performance in flood management, the prince's blue eyes for him, the future prince, and after he talked endlessly, Emperor Mingzong, who was sitting on the high hall, even showed an interested appearance, and he felt a little fluttering.

If there was no earnest recommendation from the crown prince, and there was no Lin Ruo's affairs to confide, Zhang Xu's remarks would probably only make Emperor Mingzong think that he was a young man who was reckless.

However, rumors spread in Bian'an City, pushing the Lin family to the forefront;

However, the prince was eager to borrow the hands of the Lin family and monopolize the right to allocate the green seedlings in his own hands;

However, Lin Ruo pleaded with Emperor Mingzong, and his half-truths made the emperor believe that the reason why the Lin family began to advance in recent years was because of Lin Qian's illness.

At this time, Zhang Xu proposed the green seedling method and explained that the reason why the prince wanted the Lin family to take the lead in allocating the green seedlings was because the Lin family was not a profiteer......

All of this is too much of a coincidence.

The true dragon son is alone.

Destined to sit in that position, it was a suspicious person.

If he wanted to choose one of the words he believed in the most from the few people in front of him, Emperor Mingzong's choice was undoubtedly Lin Ruo - aside from Lin Yuan'er, Lin Ruo's words were indeed the easiest to impress him.

The sentence "people will change", that pair of clear eyes, touched him very much, and made him willing to believe.

And for the crown prince and Zhang Xu......

Excessive emphasis is bound to cover up something.

Seedlings method, seedlings section.

The crown prince wanted to marry Lin Ruo and win over a wealthy merchant as a bargaining chip to compete for the throne, which Emperor Mingzong felt the same as Mingjing. Two sons, half a pound and eight taels.

However, the crown prince is not stupid, after all, he is the emperor's own son, and he has been with the king for many years.

At this moment, although the emperor did not show any abnormality on his face, his intuition told him that his father was angry.

The prince felt that his thinking had never been so sensitive: the rumors of Bian'an City, and their waiting for the opportunity to recommend the Lin family to lead the Qingmiao money, in the emperor's heart, I am afraid that this is a conspiracy!

A long-planned, interlocking conspiracy!

The prince felt a chill down his spine, and his right hand moved imperceptibly behind him, waving his hand to signal Zhang Xu not to say any more.

Zhang Xu glanced at the prince's gesture and didn't pay too much attention to it; But after Yu Guang glanced at Lin Ruo's frowning and his right index finger tapping three times on the overlapping hand, he felt a "chuckle" in his heart.

One long and two short, this is the code that Lin Ruo agreed with him, indicating that he said something that he shouldn't have said, which made the emperor angry!

Don't...... Shouldn't it be in such a subtle way?

Zhang Xu couldn't figure out the reason for a while and fell silent, but Emperor Mingzong obviously had no intention of letting him go.

"That Zhang Aiqing said that how to implement the allocation of seedlings led by businessmen? If there is corruption, what should be done? Why is it easier to deal with than the corruption of the imperial court? ”

The tone was full of majesty, and there was no joy or anger to be heard, as if it was really just a trick.

"This ......"

Forced by the power, Zhang Xu finally believed that the emperor was angry, and unconsciously felt nervous, arched his body, his tongue was knotted for a while, and he didn't know whether to continue talking.

The afterglow was cast in Lin Ruo's direction again—the right hand rubbed against the back of the left hand that was overlapped below.

This is also the code they have agreed on, which means: according to the agreed words, tell the truth.

His forehead was dripping, but he had a little bottom in his heart.

Fortunately, because he lowered his head, no one noticed his chaotic gaze, and Emperor Mingzong didn't notice anything unusual, but thought that Zhang Xu was a little nervous because his tone of questioning was too majestic, so he spoke again: "Lord Zhang, since you proposed that the imperial court implement the Qingmiao Law and the merchants allocate the Qingmiao money, I think you have already thought about it in detail, and you are not just talking about it." The questions I asked you should be all in your consideration, right? ”

Even if it is to include the Lin family for the crown prince, at least he will think of a reason!

Zhang Xu certainly has a reason.

But because the emperor was already angry, even if he had prepared in advance, even if he had Lin Ruo's suggestion, he felt like he was walking on thin ice.

"Zhang Aiqing?"

Emperor Mingzong spoke again.

"Wechen is here, Wechen can see the face of heaven when he looks back, he is frightened by the emperor's dragon might, he is panicked in his heart, and he asks the emperor to forgive his sins."

Hearing this specious compliment, Emperor Mingzong frowned slightly, and his displeasure with Zhang Xu and his dissatisfaction with the crown prince added another point.

"Let's just talk back."

"Yes, Wechen obeys." Zhang Xu bowed to the end, made a big salute, and then said, "When Weichen was in Shangyu for disaster relief, he was generously helped by the Jinling royal family, and when Weichen took his master to the palace to thank him, Master Wang had a sentence that touched Weichen a lot. He said: 'Whoever is a great merchant must be honest, faithful, and intercede. However, there are many kinds of affection, kindness, family, friendship, and friendship...... And so on. If you want to become a big business, you must choose one of them - that is, human favors. As the old saying goes, 'Money and debts are easy to pay, but love debts are difficult to repay'. Most of the greed and corruption in the world are born for the word 'human favor'. Reasoning, Weichen should not suffer in front of the emperor, but he also wants to say a few words for the scholars who have been in the cold window for ten years, and also take this as an analogy. ”

Seeing that Emperor Mingzong did not interrupt, Zhang Xu continued to say: "The imperial court selected talents, through the selection of scholars and scholars in the pre-Qin period, to the inspection of the two Han Dynasty, and then to the nine-product Zhongzheng system in the north and south of the Wei and Jin dynasties, and finally to the imperial examination system that has been used in the previous dynasty. There are really very few sages like Qi Huangyang in the Spring and Autumn Period, who 'do not avoid hatred externally, and do not avoid children internally'. Everyone has selfishness, and it is difficult to avoid human relations. The same is true for the implementation of the Seedlings Law. ”

Emperor Mingzong seemed to be in thought, Lin Ruo and Li Yan were also listening attentively, Zhang Xu gradually let go, and the more he spoke, the smoother it became. Only the crown prince felt that Zhang Xu's words were too sharp, and the hand behind his back kept signaling to him, but to no avail.

"The people are the foundation of the country, and the cangli knows the etiquette, and the food and clothing are sufficient to know the honor and disgrace (1). Although the law of green seedlings is a good prescription for the people to use it without giving it to the country, there are corrupt officials and the people have tricks for the people. When good people meet corrupt officials, the green seedlings are filled with money by corrupt officials, and they cannot be effectively used for the people, which is hateful and lamentable; When a good official encounters Diao Min, he receives the green seedlings in the spring and does not repay it in the autumn, forcing him to repay the loan for fear of losing the hearts of the people, and he is laissez-faire and shameless to the court, and he is in a dilemma; If a corrupt official encounters a corrupt person, the consequences will be even more unimaginable. Therefore, Weichen and the prince thought that the businessman would take the lead in allocating the green seedlings. ”

Note: (1) The phrase "Guanzi Herdsman" means that the people's granaries are sufficient, and they have enough food and clothing, so that they can take into account etiquette and attach importance to honor and shame.