Back in Meijiawu, Zhang Wen should prepare to go north to Beijing to offer Fu, the general Zhang Wen who led the officers and soldiers chose Ye Qingcheng, and the two generals under him who were more reliable, one was Ye Qingcheng and the other was Zhang Zhao, and the integrated Wenzhou battalion had to be commanded by him, so as to ensure that this army was Zhang Wen's men.

The date of the trip has been set, Shen Biyao found Zhang Wen and told him one thing: the students of Suzhou and Hangzhou Academy want to set up a banquet for Zhang Wen to practice, and Shen Biyao hopes that Zhang Wen will take time to participate.

Suhang Academy? Zhang Wen has never heard of it, because there are too many academies in Daming, and there are also some book clubs, poetry clubs, literary clubs, etc., and there are countless of them. However, this Suhang Academy was able to get Shen Biyao's recommendation, which made Zhang Wen interested, and he couldn't help asking, "What does Suhang Academy do?" ”

"There are all talents in it, but they are people who study the scriptures and righteousness and intend to take the road of the imperial examination." Shen Biyao's voice was crisp and pure, her tone was very calm, and she showed a well-educated temperament at any time.

Zhang asked oh, and waited for the following, there are academies everywhere that study Bagu and Jingyi, but only one can be recommended by Shen Biyao, so it will not be so simple.

Sure enough, Shen Biyao said again: "There are several businessmen in Jiangnan who are good friends with the Shen family, some are world friends, and some are friends of my father, and the Suzhou and Hangzhou Academy was established by several of us together." During the Wanli Dynasty, the mine supervisors and tax envoys were rampant, and the merchants were in danger, so we set up this academy, selected some scholars who lacked the way but had excellent learning to enter the academy to study, and provided accommodation and scientific examination fees, hoping that they would enter the imperial court and speak for us. In order to ensure the common interests, different subsidies were provided to the scholars of the college, and only living expenses were provided before the high school was promoted and the scholars were promoted; When some of them become officials, they will share the profits according to merit and official position, and the more we earn, the more they will share. Later, before the death of Emperor Wanli, he recalled the mine tax inspector, and when the new emperor succeeded to the throne, he never sent the mine tax supervisor to the local government. However, we found that in addition to dealing with the mine supervisors and tax envoys, the academy also has other benefits, in fact, those who have received a share of the profits, for more benefits, have been secretly helping each other, whether it is national policies or local emergencies, there is a response; In addition to getting a share of the profits, the officials also formed alliances with each other and relied on each other more. So the Suhang Academy has continued until now. Xianggong returned to Beijing this time, the court situation was complicated, and it was beneficial and harmless to take advantage of the relationship network of the academy. So the concubine asked the princess to go to a banquet to show her attitude. ”

Zhang Wen became interested in this Suzhou-Hangzhou Academy, and in the opposition and in the court, it is necessary to have a network of connections to do things, and a group of officials from the academy are undoubtedly a relatively large network of relationships. Now it's very easy for Zhang Wen to have an extra network, so why not?

He immediately said, "Okay, I must go to this banquet." ”

Shen Biyao smiled and said: "The concubine knows that the princess will not refuse, so she has already promised them in advance, since the princess agrees, the concubine has one less concern, and there is no need to worry about losing trust with others." ”

There was still a faint sadness between Shen Biyao's eyebrows, as if she was born like this, but these days, her face was obviously ruddy, and her smile increased. Zhang Wen saw in his eyes that the arrogance of the heart was sometimes just a disguise.

Zhang Wen looked at her intently, and he couldn't help but praise: "You are so beautiful, I want to paint a picture for you, how about it?" ”

Shen Biyao knew a lot of things, including Zhang Wen being good at Danqing, and when she heard this, two blushes suddenly appeared on her face, and she said in a low voice: "Okay." ”

Zhang Wen went to the farewell banquet of Suzhou and Hangzhou Academy. The academy is full of talents, Zhang Wen is nothing more than talking nonsense and playing a few official words, and the banquet itself is a social interaction, and its role is only to show its attitude. He is an imperial historian and governor, and his position is there, what academy do you go to if you have nothing to do?

After handling the public and private affairs in Hangzhou, Zhang Wen set off to go north to Beijing, accompanied by hundreds of soldiers led by Ye Qingcheng, Zhang Wen's personal only brought Cao An and Xuanyue, and his wife only brought Zhang Ying.

The group took the post road, because the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal flows in a complex direction, and the ships are a little slow to sail. They arrived at the border of Jingshi in mid-April, and their itinerary had already been reported to the imperial court. The noon gate dedication is a national event, which has always been more valued, which can show the royal road and deter people with bad intentions. It was agreed that Zhao Zhangwen would enter Beijing on 18 April to offer prisoners.

On April 17, the palace set up a throne in front of the main tower of the noon gate, and all the pomp and circumstance were ready. It's just that the scholars of the Hanlin Academy have been unable to write the holy decree to be issued the next day, because the reward for Zhang Wen has not yet been finalized.

The reward proposed by the cabinet vote is to reward Zhang Wen as Taichang Siqing and Prince Shaobao. According to common sense, the governor of the governor won the battle and returned to Beijing, and the capital was placed among the nine qing, and the nine qing of the Ming Dynasty were divided into the big nine qing and the small nine qing: the big nine qing were the six books of the book and the imperial history of the capital inspection court, the envoy of the general administration, and the secretary of the Dali Temple; Xiao Jiuqing is Taichang Siqing, Taifu Siqing, Guanglu Siqing, Zhan Shi, Hanlin Bachelor, Honglu Siqing, Guozi Priest Wine, Yuanma Siqing, and Shangbao Siqing.

This Taichang Siqing is barely counted as one of the Nine Qings, and the prince Shaobao is a great honor, it is the official position of the second grade, and the prince and the third young prince are not all Jinshi have the opportunity to do.

But putting aside these superficial glories, it is easy to find that Taichang Siqing is in charge of sacrifices, ceremonies and other affairs, this official is not bad, has status and nobility, but this kind of official position has little to do with the country's military and political affairs, and being such an official is tantamount to marginalization. What else is the prince Shaobao, the emperor does not have a prince now, and it is a false title at all, without any authority, which is equivalent to sending Zhang Wen a second-grade official title and getting more money.

It is really not easy for Gu Bingyao, the first assistant of the cabinet, to make such an arrangement, and it is not in vain that he has rich experience. In doing so, he not only followed the usual rules and avoided gossip, but also deeply experienced the spirit of Gonggong Wei to weaken Zhang Wen's power in the imperial court, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Wei Zhongxian showed the ticket to Zhu Youxiao, he didn't have the guts, and he dared to directly approve the red by himself. When something really happened, Wei Zhongxian still had to show it to the emperor, otherwise wouldn't he be usurping power? However, Wei Zhongxian often waited for the emperor to report when he was having fun, and then the emperor said you can do it.

Unexpectedly, when Wei Zhongxian planned to re-apply the reward to Zhang Wen this time, the emperor actually said that the vote was not good, and asked the cabinet to re-vote.

This can stump Wei Zhongxian, seeing that he has already issued an order for Zhang Wen to enter Beijing tomorrow to offer prisoners, but now the emperor does not agree to issue a holy decree of reward, how to get this prisoner sacrifice ceremony tomorrow?

Wei Zhongxian was very anxious, and hurriedly asked Gu Bingyao and other eunuch ministers to return to the cabinet duty room to renegotiate the reward.

Gu Bingyao looked at his well-thought-out plan, and said stunned: "The emperor does not agree with this vote?" Why is that? ”

Gu Bingyao is fifty or sixty years old, his head and beard are gray, and his face is square, and when he meditates hard, the three vertical lines between his eyebrows give people a sense of seriousness and justice.

Wei Zhongxian's face was anxious and innocent, and a pair of eyebrows fell to both sides, like a mustache, "Our family also wonders why the emperor didn't agree with the cabinet vote today." Gu Ge always thought that the emperor didn't think enough to reward Zhang Wen, or did he feel that the crown prince was too much? ”

Gu Bingyao paced and said: "Quell the rebellion, capture the enemy leader alive, and seal the honorary title, where will it pass?" Besides, if the emperor was not satisfied with Zhang Wen, how could he let him escort the prisoners back to Beijing to offer prisoners? The emperor must be dissatisfied with giving Zhang Wen a false title and no real power, Zhang Wen is a relative of the emperor, and he also has some position in the emperor's heart. It seems that this vote is intended to satisfy the emperor, and Zhang Wen has to get some real power official positions. ”

Wei Zhongxian was stunned and said, "Then what official position does Gu Ge think should be sealed?" ”

Gu Bingyao said: "Among the Great Nine Qings, there are not a few vacant positions now, we can't let the incumbent officials give up for no reason, right?" Well...... The imperial history of the Imperial Court has been empty since Zuo Guangdou resigned, otherwise let Zhang Wen be promoted to the second rank of the imperial history? ”

Wei Zhongxian immediately shook his head and joked, if Zhang Wen was allowed to master the Metropolitan Procuratorate, in case he tore his face in the future, it would not be a pleasant thing for him to instruct his subordinates to write a chapter of impeachment against Lao Tzu every day.

Gu Bingyao also said: "This is not very in line with the rules, if you are promoted, the official and the official of the ministry should exchange positions, Zhang Wen was originally the imperial history of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and it is not in accordance with the rules to be promoted to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so he has to be transferred to the Sixth Ministry...... He is now a third-grade official, if he is transferred to the sixth department and has to be promoted, he has to be a hall official!

Zhang Wen is not yet thirty years old, right? If he makes six books, our cabinet must not be criticized by the world? It's really not easy to do! ”

Wei Zhongxian said: "It's too late, the prisoners will be sacrificed tomorrow, and the holy decree will have to be written tonight at the latest!" If you don't do this, just use one sentence, as soon as the meritorious officials and soldiers are rewarded according to the routine, put the words down first, and discuss how to reward them slowly. ”

"That's all it can be."

On the 18th day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, Zhang Wen put on a military armor, dressed up in a new style, and escorted the prisoner car into Beijing. Although he was a civil official, this time he went out to fight for the imperial court, so it was timely to put on armor. Zhang Wen rarely wears armor, unless he goes to the front line to put on multiple security guarantees, and at this time he wears a bright new armor, not to mention that he is still very energetic.

This kind of armor that looks like it is new, well-fitted, and Zhang Wen's handsome and tall stinky skin, when dressed like this, it is really heroic. If you really wear the kind of armor on the battlefield, there is no beauty at all, and it looks thick, stupid, and dirty, and it looks like a mummy.

The onlookers on the street rarely had the opportunity to see the real battle, and when they saw the soldiers of the Ming army being mighty and handsome, they were excited, and they cheered with flowers all the way along the road. The Ming society is much more open than those previous dynasties, and ordinary girls and daughters-in-law will also go to the street to watch when they encounter this kind of thing.

Zhang Wen rode forward on the horse, the left and right guards were inseparable, seeing such an exciting and worshipful scene, he felt very good, Zhang Wen was still a young man after all, sometimes there would be blood surging in his heart, and he would have a good face.

Such an enthusiastic fellow, Zhang Wen sighed in his heart, recalling that when he left Beijing, he was thrown eggs and radishes by a group of people, scolded the eunuchs, and even more ruthlessly, there were still people who wanted to kill Lao Tzu!

Before and after, there is a big difference. Zhang Wen couldn't figure out what the reputation was, and what the people's hearts were.

In the hustle and bustle, the army finally reached the south of the Forbidden City, and went all the way from Chengtianmen and Duanmen to Wumen to offer prisoners. In the open space outside the noon gate, hundreds of officials are arranged, and the etiquette is formal. The bright fan of Jinyiwei, the treasure case of Shang Bao Division, and the Shao Music of the Teaching Workshop Division are all available, and the scene is magnificent, which makes people awe-inspired.

Both sides are densely packed with people, and a large avenue is made in the middle, Zhang Wen walks in the front, riding on a horse and pressing the sword, and the cyan cloak on his back is flying with the wind, while the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty can only stand on both sides to watch, all eyes are on Zhang Wen, Zhang Wen suddenly feels extremely glorious.

Behind was a prisoner car, Ye Feng was locked in a prisoner car, and when he saw such a scene, he laughed so much that he couldn't stop laughing. "Phew!" Ye Feng suddenly spat at an official on the side, "What's the matter, you all wait to be slaves to the country!" Ha ha! Hahaha...... All of them are slaves to the country......" The young official in the green robe wiped the dirty water from his face, depressed.

Zhang Wen didn't go on horseback for a while, stopped far away, then turned over and dismounted, and walked alone in the direction of the throne. He couldn't see the person sitting on the top clearly, it was a little far away, but he saw that not only the emperor was sitting on it, but the queen was also sitting on the side. Zhang Wen is a relative of the queen, and it is reasonable for the queen to come to watch the ceremony of sacrificing prisoners.

Zhang Wen straightened his clothes, knelt on the ground solemnly, and bowed down: "Zhang Wen, the vice-governor of the imperial capital, the prime minister of the southeast military affairs, Zhang Wen, the emperor's edict, escorted the bandit Ye Feng and other sinners back to Beijing...... Because Zhang Wen led the army into the imperial city, he had to state one thing in front of the civil and military officials, Lao Tzu was given the edict...... As a minister, you must beware of suspicion of rebellion at all times.

The emperor seemed to be saying something from afar, but in this open place, the voice was not heard clearly, and Zhang Wen did not dare to look up, in fact, the emperor and empress were high, and the civil and military officials did not dare to look up, and many people did not know what the emperor said and did on it.

It was relatively quiet in front of the noon gate, only Ye Feng was still laughing without knowing whether he was alive or dead.

After a while, a eunuch dressed in a fancy python robe stepped forward and said in a loud voice: "Holy decree! ”

"Tie Ye Feng and the others to the West Market and behead them!"

After the eunuch finished shouting, the Jingjun and Jinyi guards on both sides cheered loudly and rhythmically in a well-trained manner, and the sergeants behind Zhang Wen also raised their weapons and cheered, and they were all happy for a while, even Ye Feng, who was about to be killed, was laughing loudly very cooperatively, no one cried, only happy and smiling.

In the midst of the cheers, the prisoner carts of the army were escorted down and prepared to behead the prisoners, so Ye Feng's wild laughter gradually faded away.

After a long time, the eunuch recited the holy decree again, rewarded Zhang Wen and others with a lot of property, and said that he would be promoted to a knighthood. Zhang Wen listened to the decree very carefully, but he didn't hear what kind of official he was going to do after returning to Beijing, he was a little puzzled, it stands to reason that taking advantage of the cheerful scene to give Lao Tzu a high-ranking official Houlu that everyone envies, that is a good way to motivate hundreds of officials! Why is it that the Holy Decree says something false and does not give some practical benefits?

The cheerful scene cast a shadow on Zhang Wen's heart. He always felt that today's sacrifice of prisoners was very weird, and Ye Feng's indulgent laughter and this holy decree were very weird.

Zhang Wen returned to the house in Qingshi Hutong, no matter how beautiful it was outside, he didn't want to go back to such an old house. Cao An and the others had already returned home first, and had already cleaned up the yard. Zhang Wen got off the sedan chair, and as soon as he walked into the yard, he faintly heard Cao An's anxious voice: "Can't buy it?" Go to the restaurant and call it, even if you spend some extra money, you have to get it back......"

"Cao An!"

Cao An heard Zhang Wen's voice, hurriedly ran over, bowed down and said, "What does the young master command?" ”

"What's so urgent?"

"Back to the young master, there is no rice in the rice shops around the alley. We have just returned to Beijing, and there is no rice at home, so we have to buy it again, so how can we do without rice for dinner? The old slave asked someone to go to the restaurant first to buy some wine, vegetables and rice, and then deal with it tonight, and then go to the bigger rice shop tomorrow to buy it. ”

Zhang Wen was stunned and said, "The rice shop is out of rice?" This is the Beijing Division, food, clothing, and use, all the world's materials will be transported here, how can it suddenly break the rice? ”

Cao An said: "That's not the case, Jingshi is not short of rice. But many people said that Jianyu was going to fight Jingshi, and they said it with a clear eye. It is impossible for Jianyu to break through the Jingshi, but as soon as they besiege the city, nothing from the outside can be transported in, and millions of people in the Jingshi will have to eat and drink, and there will be a shortage of rice in the future, so everyone desperately buys rice at home. The price of rice is rising, and with the rush to buy, the smaller rice shops are either out of stock or simply hoarding and waiting for the price of rice to rise. It's really hard to buy rice now. ”

"It's just a rumor, you can't take it seriously! The government doesn't have a mansion to report an emergency, and there is no shadow of Jianyu, so people are scared like this, it's really sad! ”

Zhang asked to say this, but there was an extra heart in his heart, in this world, there is no groundless reason, there is always a reason for everything, right? The rise in the price of rice is either due to the fact that some people are deliberately spreading rumors behind the scenes, intending to make huge profits, or they are affected by the military situation in Liaodong.

The situation in the northeast is indeed not optimistic, Jianyu was forced to survive the crisis, after a short period of rectification, he waved his army into the eastern Liaodong region, won successive battles, the three major towns of Liaoyang, Shenyang, and Tieling in eastern Liaodong were lost, and a large area east of the Liaohe River fell into the hands of Jianlu.

In the first year of the Apocalypse, Jianyu provoked a war again and captured many cities east of the Liaoxi Corridor, and in the second year of the Apocalypse, that is, at the beginning of this year, the Ming army lost Guangning and Yizhou. Liu Ling, who was originally promoted to the chief military officer of Liaodong, was escorted back to Beijing and imprisoned in the imperial prison because of a series of defeats, losing troops and losing all his losses; Liaodong Jingluo Xiong Tingbi is not very good, although he has not fallen, but the wind in the court is very tight.

Zhang Wen felt that the rumors of the Jingshi this time might come from such a situation, and some knowledgeable people must be worried about the Jianyu looting the rich land around the Jingshi.

At present, there is nothing to do, not only there are many important towns outside Shanhaiguan, but Shanhaiguan is known as the first pass in the world, which is not so easy to break, and it is difficult to storm hundreds of thousands of troops, and Jianyu does not have so many troops.

However, the security of the Jingshi is not just to guard the Shanhaiguan, the border wall on the north and Mongolia is much weaker than the Shanhaiguan, as long as the Jianyu does a good job of diplomacy, he can use Mongolia to attack the pass for a long distance. Zhang Wen couldn't say for sure whether Jianyu would do this, but it was possible.

Zhang Wen ordered someone to inquire about the news, and at the same time pondered the powerful relationship of this matter. Now Zhang Wen has nothing to do with Liaodong, and he has nothing to do with anything big, and if the price of rice rises again, he will not lack that bit of silver. So Zhang Wen has nothing to be nervous about, this kind of thing has little to do with him, and national affairs don't depend on him Zhang Wen alone, Zhang Wen doesn't feel anything in his heart, and he can't find something to put too much on his head.

He was a little uneasy that when he came back this time, the reward given to him by the imperial court was very unhappy, I am afraid that Wei Zhongxian and his party were making trouble, if Wei Zhongxian lost his favor towards him and wanted to suppress him, this matter would be a trouble, Wei Zhongxian's power was monstrous, and it was not a good thing for him to be remembered.

Zhang Wen unconsciously regarded infighting as the first priority, and the affairs outside the customs felt that they were not very important, which is probably the situation faced by most officials. He really has no choice, the intrigue in the court is directly related to his own net worth and future, and he can't pay attention to it.

At this moment, Zhang Ying walked in, stepped back from the left and right, pulled out a note, and said, "Yesterday's new news, from the palace." Wei Zhongxian took the cabinet's vote to reward the meritorious generals and asked the emperor, but the emperor was not satisfied, rejected the vote, and asked the cabinet to reconsider. This is the reason why there was no order on how to reward the prime minister when the prisoners were sacrificed today. ”

Zhang Wen hurriedly took the note and read it carefully, and said in a deep voice: "So, the emperor has taken a fancy to me?" Want to promote me to fight against the Wei Party? ”

Zhang Ying said: "Since the emperor is on the side of the emperor, he Wei Zhongxian is just a dog beside the emperor, how can he dare to take the minister?" ”

"Ying'er is right, as long as the emperor believes in us, nothing will happen...... Accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger, and the one who really can't be sloppy is still the emperor! But I've been away from the imperial court for so long, I'm not familiar with the imperial court, and my qualifications are here, so I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about Wei Zhongxian's party. ”