Zhong Yucun is the new prefect of Yangzhou Prefecture, on the ninth day of the seventh month, Zhong Governor watched the royal car go away at the dock outside Yangzhou City, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It is said that Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi arrived in Yangzhou City on the third day of the seventh month, and has been here for five days, as a local leader, Zhong Zhifu has to wait in front of the car every day, the key Jiajing Emperor also likes to ask about local government affairs, understand the people's livelihood and people's feelings, so the pressure of Zhong Zhifu is not ordinary, every day is like walking on thin ice, for fear of doing the wrong thing and saying the wrong thing, thus ruining his career.

In addition, an incident that happened yesterday also made Zhong Zhifu a little frightened. It turned out that just yesterday, the escort Yu Shi Jitang suddenly proposed that the etiquette used by the Son of Heaven to worship his biological father Xingxian Emperor should be agreed in advance. As a result, the controversy between the Puyi faction and the upstart faction detonated again.

The upstart faction led by Zhang Xuan and Gui Cao advocated the ceremonial sacrifice of the imperial examination, while the Puyi faction led by Yang Tinghe strongly opposed it and advocated the ceremonial sacrifice of the imperial uncle. As a result, the "powder keg" that was supposed to be detonated in Nanjing was detonated in advance, and the two sides quarreled over the scriptures.

As a neutral faction, Yangzhou Governor Zhong Yucun suddenly suffered an unwarranted disaster, expressing support for the Puyi faction, it will offend Emperor Jiajing and Empress Dowager Jiang, express support for the upstart faction, and offend Yang Tinghe, the first assistant of the cabinet, inside and outside is not a person!

Fortunately, today the imperial driver finally left Yangzhou for Nanjing, and he has to thank Sun Jiao, the head of the household, if Sun Shangshu had not suddenly suffered a stroke and fell ill, the emperor would not have rushed to Nanjing to visit. So although it is very unkind, Zhong Zhifu still has to say in his heart: Sun Shangshu is good in the wind, wonderful in the middle, and quacking in the middle!

Yangzhou City is not far from Nanjing, only two hundred miles, so the royal driver and his party left Yangzhou in the morning and arrived at the Yangtze River Wharf outside Nanjing in the afternoon.

The presence of the emperor in person is a great event, not to mention that there are Empress Dowager Jiang and two princesses accompanying him, so all the government departments in Nanjing are operational. The whole city of Nanjing is boiling, more lively than the Chinese New Year, and even the business of those sisters on the Qinhuai River is a few percent more popular than usual.

At this moment, all the high-ranking officials in Nanjing City went outside the city to greet them, naturally including Xu Jin.

The first to get off the boat were Teng Xiangwei and Yu Linwei, who were freshly dressed and angry, followed by Jinyiwei, but seeing the tiger and leopard opening the way, the flag was waving, and the king of a country traveled, the pomp and circumstance was not ordinary.

After the solemn guard of honor, a bright yellow umbrella cover finally got off the ship under the strict protection of Jin Wuwei, only to see the great tomorrow Zhu Houxi stepped on the dock with high spirits, followed by a group of "well-dressed beasts" (the official uniform of the civil official embroidered birds, the official uniform of the military attache embroidered beasts, collectively known as the well-dressed beasts), the person headed by the cabinet is the first assistant Yang Tinghe, and the second assistant of the cabinet Fei Hong is also impressively listed.

Wang Shouren, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, Wang Jun, the secretary of the Nanjing Household Department, and other leaders of the ministries and courtyards took the lead in kneeling down and saluting, shouting: "Greetings to my emperor's holy drive, long live, long live!" ”

Zhu Houxi, this kid is seventeen years old this year, it is estimated that it is the reason for frequent exercise, his body has soared very significantly, he is lifting his posture upright, heroic, and he has been in the royal pole for more than three years, and his gestures have revealed an imperial majesty.

"Everyone, love Qing Ping!" Zhu Houxi raised his hand slightly and said, his eyes quickly found Xu Jin in the crowd, and a trace of joy flashed on his face.

"Emperor Xie!" The ministers stood up, and Xu Jin had time to look at Emperor Jiajing in front of him, and the two met their eyes, and the latter blinked indifferently.

Xu Jin Xu Jin smiled knowingly, and nodded unconcernedly. Lu Bing's kid is a caring person, and he couldn't help but be a little discouraged when he saw this scene, and secretly thought, it seems that the provocation effect last time was not very great.

Next, surrounded by a group of ministers, the royal car and his party went straight to Nanjing City and went to the palace to settle down. Sent to the gate of the palace, all the officials stopped in unison. In the palace, you are not allowed to enter unless you are edicted, and it is about to get dark, according to the regulations, the palace door must be locked after dark, and no one is allowed to enter or exit.

The officials began to disperse one after another, and each settled down to stay, and Xu Jin only then did he have time to walk in front of Fei Hong, and saluted respectfully: "The student has seen the teacher. ”

Looking at the proud protégé in front of him, plus a double niece and son-in-law, Fei Hong nodded gently and said, "Ziqian, go to the teacher for a drink tonight, and talk to you about something." ”

Xu Jin hurriedly agreed respectfully, and the two of them simply chatted for a few more words before parting ways and settling down.

"Lord Xu, please stay!"

Just when Xu Jin was near Dong'an Gate, he suddenly heard someone shouting behind him, and when he looked back, he saw three officials chasing after him quickly, two of them were Zhang Xuan and Huo Tao, and the third person Xu Jin did not know, but as the so-called people are divided into groups, and things are gathered by like, this third person is estimated to be the second person of the upstart faction, Gui Cao.

Sure enough, when the three of them came to greet him, Huo Tao introduced with a smile: "Lord Xu and Master Zhang are friends in the same year, so there is no need to introduce them to the lower officials. ”

Gui Cao is about the same age as Zhang Xuan, both of whom are in their early fifties, but this Gui has a long and narrow face, a pointed chin, and a slightly yellowish face, and seems to be in poor health.

Xu Jin arched his hand and smiled: "It turned out to be Lord Gui, I am fortunate to be lucky!" ”

Gui Cao hurriedly returned the salute and said with a smile: "Lord Xu is polite, the lower officials dare not be ashamed, dare not be." ”

Zhang Xuan is full of spring breeze at the moment, completely devoid of the decadence of the year, and can still maintain a smile that is neither humble nor arrogant in front of Xu Jin. It's no wonder that since he was recalled to Beijing last year, Zhang Xuan has become more and more relied on by Emperor Jiajing, although the official position has not been promoted, but Emperor Jiajing often consults him on political affairs, so Zhang Xuan has become a celebrity around the emperor.

Zhang Xuan also became more and more confident because of this, and did not feel that he was a head lower than Xu Jin, and Zhang Xuan thought that as long as he helped the emperor to overthrow Yang Tinghe and the faction, his status would even be able to overpower Xu Jin in the future.

"Brother Ziqian, after a long time, while the weather is not bad today, why don't you find a quiet place to sit down and have a few drinks and get together for the friendship of the same year?" Zhang Xuan smiled and sent out an invitation.

Xu Jin couldn't guess Zhang Zhang's attempt to invite him, gathering the old was just an excuse, but he was actually afraid that he was going to pull himself into the gang to fight against Yang Tinghe, so he pretended to be sorry and said: "I'm afraid it won't work tonight, the teacher will meet you!" ”

Huo Tao and Gui Cao couldn't help but show disappointment when they heard this, and Zhang Xuan also frowned imperceptibly, but he was a teacher for one day and a father for life, and it was understandable to respect the teacher, so he couldn't let Xu Jin push off the teacher's dinner, so he said regretfully: "I see, then I have to make an appointment another day." ”

The four of them were talking, but they saw three people passing by, and the leader was none other than Yang Tinghe, the first assistant of the cabinet, and Mao Cheng, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Shi Xuan, a scholar of Hanlin.

Although the upstart faction and the Puyi faction are currently in trouble, the superficial work still has to be done, and Zhang Xuan, Guixu and others hurriedly greeted each other. Xu Jin also politely clasped his fists and saluted: "Xia Guan has seen Yang Ge Lao, Master Mao and Master Shi. ”

Yang Tinghe nodded indifferently, but Mao Cheng snorted coldly, and Shi Xuan, a scholar of Hanlin, was famous for his stinky temper, he glanced at Xu Jin and the others, and said coldly: "A raccoon dog!" ”

Zhang Xuan and the three of them all showed anger on their faces, but Xu Jin looked calm and silent, not because he was afraid of the other party, but he really disdained to spray with a pit stone like Shi Xuan, which was a pure waste of saliva.

Yang Tinghe glanced at Xu Jin hesitantly, and finally didn't say anything, and walked straight away with a flick of his sleeves. Shi Xuan was originally waiting for Xu Jin to spray back, but who knew that Xu Jin didn't accept the offer at all, and Lord Shi, who was punched in the air, had no choice but to leave stupidly.

Huo Tao stared at Shi Xuan's back and said angrily: "Self-righteous old guy." ”

Zhang Xuan glanced at Xu Jin, who had a calm expression, and deliberately lowered his voice and said: "I heard that Yang Ge Lao has a lot of complaints about Brother Ziqian's dispatch of troops to Manraka, and he is even more dissatisfied with the establishment of the Nanyang Metropolitan Protectorate. ”

Xu Jin frowned and arched his hand: "Thank you for the reminder!" ”

Jiang Mian nodded casually, and Yang Tinghe opened his mouth hesitantly, but in the end he didn't say anything, and walked straight away with a flick of his sleeves.

"Jianzhai, the journey is tired, and the old man will settle down here." Jiang Mian arched his hand at Fei Hong and went straight away.

……