Wang Xian's solo performance caused a sensation in the court.

On this day, Zhu Youzhu still did not resume the court discussion, but he asked people to invite the main officials such as the Shangting Office, the Cabinet, and the Six Shangshu to the Qianqing Palace to discuss matters, and Zhang Zhou sent Xiao Jing to invite him.

"Mr. Zhang, Mrs. Changguo entered the palace early this morning, and I expected that she would have already left the palace gate."

Xiao Jing specially reminded Zhang Zhou.

Mrs. Changguo Jin, that is, Empress Zhang's wife, usually enters and exits the palace gate, but after her two sons went out one after another, they really rarely entered the palace recently.

And Xiao Jing reminded Zhang Zhou that this sentence was actually hinting at Zhang Zhou...... Although our family doesn't know what your plan is with Your Majesty, I expect that Mrs. Changguo's entry into the palace is related to your plan, and it is necessary to inform you that you know.

Zhang Zhou smiled: "Really? ”

No comment.

Didn't you Xiao Jing say it before, there are some things you don't want to know, and even if you know, you will pretend to be confused?

……

……

Jin's entry into the palace is indeed related to Zhu Youji's request for a concubine, but she and her daughter still don't know about Zhu Youji's presence outside and her pregnancy.

Empress Zhang invited her old mother into the palace because her two younger brothers, who used to help her with errands, are not around now.

If it's an ordinary thing, anyone can go there, and any eunuch can get it done...... But if it involves royal matters, especially the emperor, Empress Zhang must also find a completely trustworthy "own person", and it seems that only her wife in Beijing has this qualification.

After the Jin family left the palace, she immediately went to the political envoy department, found someone to go in and spread the word, and invited her husband's brother-in-law, that is, Empress Zhang's uncle Shen Lu to come out.

"Old lady, what are you?"

When Shen Lu saw the Jin family, he would naturally be surprised.

In the past, the two had met, but it was also a New Year's holiday, and he had to go to the door to meet in person, and he might not be able to meet people.

Now that the Jin family actually took the initiative to come, not to his mansion, but directly to his yamen, this matter is not simple.

"Find a place to talk." Kim Road.

Shen Lu said: "There is a tea shop nearby to rest and settle down, please." ”

When Shen Lu invited the Jin family to the government-run tea shop opened by the errand man on the side of the road, there was only one floor, and after settling down, the people from the Changguo Mansion blocked it outside, so that the two of them could talk separately inside.

Jin explained that he had seen Empress Zhang in the palace.

After hearing this, Shen Lu was taken aback and said, "Old lady, listening to what you said, Your Majesty intends to take a concubine?" ”

Jin said: "Your Majesty did not say it explicitly, but many hints were all about mentioning this matter to the queen, and the queen now wants to know where this woman is." ”

"This ......"

Shen Lu wondered.

Where do people go to find them?

Jin said: "Your Majesty usually goes in and out of the palace gate, is there no rumor at all in the court?" ”

"Uh...... It's true that there is no such rumor, isn't it...... Queen Mother, how hearty is she? In the past, the court and the central government played many times about His Majesty's concubine, but His Majesty sternly rejected it, and strictly ordered that no one should mention it in the future, why is it ...... now?"

Shen Lu actually wanted to say.

Is it that the queen is now gradually getting older, and she feels that she is beginning to decline, and she is afraid that she will not be able to trap her husband's heart, and because she has not been able to have children in the past few years, she is not confident and begins to think blindly?

After changing the general ministers of the court, I can't figure out why the emperor has such a big contrast between before and after.

This is the result of Empress Dowager Zhou and Zhang Erren working together to fight Zhu Youji's weakness.

For ordinary ministers, if they don't know what to do, they naturally can't understand the change in the emperor's mentality.

Jin said with a displeased face: "Your Majesty has the rhetoric of not accepting concubines, but since ancient times, who has been a king for a lifetime without accepting concubines?" Now you just want to know where people are, can you do that? ”

Don't say that Shen Lu doesn't.

Even if he had, he wouldn't try his best to do things for the Kim family, just because of ......

He knew that Empress Zhang was secretly investigating the emperor's possible existence of women outside the palace, and nine times out of ten it was not out of good intentions, Wan Zhen'er was awesome enough, right? But Wan Zhen'er still has to face the competition for favor from a group of women, and no matter how dedicated Emperor Chenghua is, there are still other women...... Now this queen, what are the difficulties in dealing with a woman?

"Old sister, don't be anxious, it's best to think about this kind of thing in the long run, and besides, Your Majesty has really been out of the palace gate and has a ...... Those who may know about it must not be these ministers of the DPRK and China. Of course, Shen Lu wants to push things out.

"You mean?" Kim frowned.

Shen Lu said: "You should ask the officials close to Your Majesty, or ...... Those who are close to His Majesty. ”

Jin nodded and said, "The internal official said that the queen will inquire about it, but who is the person who is close to His Majesty?" ”

"Hehe, old sister, do you still need to say this? Naturally, it was the Duke of Lai. Shen Lu said, "Don't worry about this, I will go down to help you ask, or you can find out something in advance." ”

Jin said: "Zhang Bingkuan? It's not a wicked person, and it helps me a lot to the Zhang family. ”

"Yes, they are all members of their own family, easy to talk, old sister, you said that this person who walks around in and out of the palace, who dares not to give face to the queen and you? He helps outsiders...... What's in it for you? ”

Shen Lu felt that even if Zhang Zhou would not betray Zhu Youji, he would not dare not give face to Queen Zhang.

In his opinion, if Zhang Zhouzhen knew about the emperor's affair, what was the need to hide it? Secretly cooperating with the Zhang family to find people, isn't it a simple matter for Zhang Zhou?

Besides, the emperor is probably just a whim, how much affection can he have with women outside the palace? Zhang Zhouzhen will go to the Zhang family in order to help this kind of person who has no power at all?

Jin Shi nodded with satisfaction: "Then I will bother you more." The old man went back first and waited for news. ”

……

……

After Shen Lu sent the Jin family away, he couldn't help but sigh and walked in the direction of the General Political Envoy, still muttering: "What is this called?" ”

For Shen Lu.

It's not a good job.

Regardless of whether Empress Zhang's suspicions are grounded or not, at least what he Shen Lu has to face is the problem of the faithfulness of the monarch and the minister, and helping the Zhang family is likely to betray the emperor.

"Go, please come over Xu Shangshu...... Forget it, I'll go myself. "When Shen Lu encounters this kind of thing, he generally doesn't decide for himself.

He will think of another person, that is his "brother-in-law" Xu Qiong, after Zhang Luan made his fortune, he married his sister to Xu Qiong as a concubine, and then allowed his daughter to enter the palace as a queen.

The nepotism of this group of people is also linked together because of the aunts of Queen Zhang and the three brothers of the Zhang family.

But after Shen Lu arrived at the Ministry of Rites, he learned that Xu Qiong had entered the palace gate to discuss military merits, so he could only stay in the Ministry of Rites and wait for the return of his old friend.

……

……

Imperial Palace, inside the Qianqing Palace.

At this time, the recognition of meritorious service is in progress.

Ma Wensheng, the secretary of the Ministry of War, explained Wang Xian's report to Zhu Youzhu one by one, and made an analysis.

As for the cabinet and the people of the other six ministries, including Zhang Zhou, they could only listen from the side.

After Zhu Youzhu listened, his tone was very flat and said: "It is good to win, but when it comes to rewarding meritorious deeds, it will have to be determined after a detailed investigation after the war. ”

This tone is actually to tell the ministers present.

He, the emperor, had known the outcome of the battle for a long time.

You are nervous there, what is being deceived by Zhang Zhou, it is all groundless.

Besides, the grassland won the battle, is it necessary for Zhang Zhou to hide it from the emperor? Zhang Zhou deliberately stepped on Wang Xian in order to protect Lu Wan, and there was no need...... They are all people recommended by Zhang Zhou, and the first credit of this battle is attributed to Zhang Zhou.

Ma Wensheng said: "Your Majesty, if you look at the merits of the first level, the soldiers and horses of Jizhou will be the best in this battle, and they can even be miraculous. Be rewarded. ”

Zhu Youzhu asked: "In the eyes of the Ministry of War, the soldiers of Liaodong have no merit, or their nearly 40,000 soldiers and horses are not as good as the 4,000 soldiers, right?" ”

Ma Wensheng is not an ordinary stubborn civil servant in the end, he looked at the cabinet next to him, and found that they really had no intention of arguing, so he continued to say his own argument: "The conclusion of military merit is that when everything is made by law and business, and the law is made in the past, the first level of acquisition means military merit, no matter how meritorious the people and horses of Liaozhen are, they should also talk about the first merit first, and then discuss the war merit." ”

Ma Wensheng represents the Ministry of War.

The advice he gave was that it was okay to give credit to the soldiers of Liaodong, but first make the credit of the first level clear.

As for the merits of the Liaodong soldiers, they can be made up in addition to the first-level merits, so as not to violate the previous method of determining the merits of the Ming Dynasty.

"One merit, how to reward two?" Zhu Youzhu asked rhetorically.

Ma Wensheng was a little embarrassed.

He was still providing a solution for Zhu Youji, but in fact, it was equivalent to rewarding him twice, first discussing the merits of the first level, and then identifying the credit for the overall strategy after the discussion, so that the contradictions between Liaodong and Jizhou could basically be resolved...... Although the result is actually Jizhou's side has taken a big advantage.

Ma Wensheng found that his opinion could not be adopted, so he could only take a step back.

Tu Tu, the secretary of the ministry, asked, "What does Your Majesty mean by this?" ”

Zhu Youzhu said: "Didn't I say it? It will be determined after the survey. A victory, does it have to be tossed with so many twists and turns? ”

Tu Tu said: "Because of this, the battle was achieved by the cooperation of the two towns of Liaodong and Jizhou, and it is inevitable that there will be disputes over the determination of military merits. ”

Zhu Youzhu asked, "Then who will decide this battle?" Who should be given the primary credit? Also, who has more say in matters determined by military merits? ”

Several people didn't want to take Zhang Zhou seriously.

But at this time, everyone looked at Zhang Zhou's side.

The emperor said the most basic truth in the most insipid tone...... Are you fighting for a bird? All this was done under Bingkuan's planning, he said whose credit is it, then it should be who's, you are here to fight for the Jizhou soldiers, don't you feel blushing? Of course, I don't blame you! Because from the beginning, this was all planned by me and Bingkuan, and this was Wang Xian's own deliberate creation of public opinion for that little credit.

You Wenchen are just being led by the nose.

Zhang Zhou hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this warlord does not dare to take credit, all because of the bloody battles of the front-line soldiers. However, the minister heard that the governor of Liaodong, Lu Wan, played the impeachment of the Jizhou Department and delayed the military plane in order to seize the credit, so that it was impossible to form a siege of Duoyan Sanwei, so that most of Duoyan Sanwei fled. ”

The few people around were not surprised, but frowned slightly.

said that he had no position, but Zhang Zhou's position was obviously tilted towards Liaodong.

Xie Qian smiled: "Lai Guogong, are you biased when you say this?" In fact, the matter of fighter planes is more difficult to determine than the military merits, and how can we be sure that the fighters were delayed because of the military merits of the Jizhou Division? Besides, after the end of the first battle, the soldiers also need to rest, even if they go to the battle non-stop, it is difficult to say what the outcome of the battle will be, who said that they will definitely win? ”

Zhang Zhou smiled: "Xie Ge always thinks that thanks to the soldiers of Jizhou who are grabbing people's heads and ears, otherwise the three armies can be wiped out, right?" ”

"Oh, Lai Guogong, you can't say that, the old man is just talking about things, let's get back to the point."

Xie Qian is also a master of sophistry in the court.

But he was actually unconsciously jealous of Zhang Zhou in his heart.

Because no matter how sophistry he is, he still has to follow some established procedures, like gags, but he must abide by the courtesy of the monarch and the minister...... But it was replaced by Zhang Zhou...... The sophistry is simply imaginative, and the irony is even fuller.

Arguing with a man who would not be blamed by the emperor for how he spoke in the court...... Xie Qian is still under pressure.

The problem was thrown back to Zhu Youji.

Zhu Youzhu said: "It's not easy to decide whether the merits or demerits are right or wrong now, so the imperial court will send the imperial history to check, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will select personnel as appropriate. ”

The emperor wants to check.

The Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Shangting Office, and the Military Department each sent people, and they all seemed to have nothing to do with Zhang Zhou.

But Zhang Zhou is one of the latter two, that is to say, no matter how you investigate, there will definitely be someone who represents Zhang Zhou's will.

"Your Majesty, the minister recommends the head of the military department and the Yanwutang to teach Tang Yin." Zhang Zhou seems to be singing a double reed with Zhu Youji.

As soon as the emperor said that he would send someone to investigate, Zhang Zhou directly recommended people.

Take a pit first.

"Good!" Zhu Youzhu also agreed unceremoniously, "Then Tang Yin will be the leader." ”

What?

Several ministers next to him were anxious when they heard this.

You guys just make up their minds, and now they are still checking with Tang Yin as the leader, isn't this obviously favoring Liaodong?

No matter how anxious they were, no one came out to say anything, as if they were waiting for others to come out and oppose it.

Liu Jian said: "If you go with three messengers, it is appropriate for the three of them to report the results of the investigation." ”

Zhu Youzhu asked, "Don't they need to reach a consensus first?" ”

Liu Jian also felt very anxious at this time, in fact, he also understood that the credit of Wang Xian's department to Jizhou, in fact, Lu Wan's Liaodong department did not deny it...... There is no need to check the results of the high probability, the first level of credit is Jizhou's, and the overall strategy is greater in Liaodong...... This is more time-consuming.

However, there is a high probability that there will be no war in the winter, and it is nothing for the court to rectify some broken things about merit.

Seeing that Liu Jian didn't answer, Zhu Youzhu waved his hand and said: "This matter is so decided, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Military Department will discuss the candidates as soon as possible, and they will send people to Liaodong in the next two days...... Ahem! Everyone, please come back. ”

In the end, the emperor may have deliberately coughed twice in order to show that he was still sick.

Originally, there were still people who wanted to remind the emperor that we should resume the court earlier, but look at this posture...... There is still a gap between the monarch and the minister, so naturally they all hold back in their stomachs first.

……

……

The ministers of the court left the palace, while Zhang Zhou went to Kunning Palace.

A group of people went out, and he was alone inward.

Zhang Zhou was invited by Empress Zhang to "diagnose" her, but Empress Zhang invited Zhang Zhou through her husband.

Inside the Kunning Palace.

Zhu Youzhu is not here, Queen Zhang left a personal palace maid this time, probably because there is something important to talk to Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou doesn't seem to have anything to avoid...... Anyway, Zhu Youzhu asked him to come, and it was a drama of a husband fooling his wife with his friends, and Zhang Zhou was still a very dedicated actor.

"The queen is fine." Zhang Zhou roughly looked at it and asked, and commented.

Empress Zhang said: "Your Majesty has always said that he has been restless recently, saying that he has been a nightmare all night, and that there may be a risk of branch severance in the future, and that this is all a warning given by the emperor. Bingkuan, what do you think? ”

Zhang Zhou thought to himself, is this what the emperor said? That's clearly what I said.

And I didn't scare the emperor, according to the development of history, it is indeed because your husband's heirs are thin, and they will be cut off in your next generation.

Even if your husband is mediocre and your son is messing around, your lineage will not be cut off.

All this ...... Not because of you?

Zhang Zhoudao: "The heirs are thin, Your Majesty thinks about it every day, and naturally dreams at night." As for dreams and other things, the minister did not believe it. ”

Empress Zhang was puzzled: "Aren't you very good at interpreting dreams?" You don't believe such things? But you ......"

"The minister's calculation of world affairs is through the Book of Changes, etc., and it is not beyond the scope of human power, as for the interpretation of dreams, this is mysterious and mysterious, whether it is the Empress Dowager looking for the minister to interpret the dream, or Your Majesty, the minister has made it clear that he is not good at it."

In front of Queen Zhang, Zhang Zhou seems to be an honest and reliable little gentleman.

Empress Zhang nodded and said, "But Your Majesty may have someone outside the palace." ”

Zhang Zhoudao: "It's not possible, it should be...... There must be someone. ”

"You ......"

Empress Zhang didn't expect Zhang Zhou to be so direct, although she felt that it was inappropriate, she still waved her hand and pulled the last palace maid around her back.

In this way, it became a separate relationship between Zhang Zhou and Empress Zhang.

"Queen, isn't this okay?" When Zhang Zhou saw this posture, he couldn't help but remind.

Empress Zhang said: "This palace knows that the person Your Majesty is looking for has nothing to do with you, it should be the Empress Dowager who is looking for Your Majesty, and Your Majesty trusts you so much, she will definitely inform you of this matter." Is that so? ”

Zhang Zhouxin said, you are the only one who is smart.

"Yes." Zhang Zhou admitted it very simply.

In fact...... Empress Zhang is not wrong.

The person was found by the old lady, and he Zhang Zhou was just embellished from the side, and on big issues, Queen Zhang can be said to be a "clear-eyed person".

Empress Zhang said angrily: "Where are the people? ”

Zhang Zhou sighed: "Queen Mother, it doesn't matter where you are, the point is that this woman is already pregnant." ”

"What?"

Empress Zhang stood up suddenly.

As far as Zhang Zhou can see with the naked eye, Empress Zhang is nervous, probably the first time in her life that there has been a major crisis.

(End of chapter)