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At the beginning, Li Ruan was poor, frustrated in the examination room, and was almost killed by market hooligans, but it was Zhao Junchen who rescued him;

Then, when Li Ruan found that his lifeline was damaged and fell into unprecedented despair, it was Zhao Junchen who guided him to find a new purpose in life;

Then, Li Ru'an was able to smoothly enter the inner court on an errand and quickly attracted the attention of the high-level officials of the inner court, or because of Zhao Junchen's arrangement;

To this day, Li Ru'an was able to catch the ride of the Shaanxi-Gansu victory and successfully sit in the position of the eunuch in charge of the imperial study, still because of Zhao Junchen's secret promotion!

It can be said that everything Li Ru'an has today was given by Zhao Junchen!

Even, in a way, the personality and temperament that Li Ruan is showing now are shaped by Zhao Junchen himself!

Of course, Zhao Junchen has long seen through this person's ambition and unwillingness to be controlled, and it is easy to guess what Li Ru is thinking in peace.

For Zhao Junchen, Li Ruan's character can be described as a double-edged sword.

On the good side, only an ambitious and ruthless heart like Li Ruan can rise quickly in the inner court, and can also quickly play a role and assist Zhao Junchen in doing things; But on the downside, you have to keep an eye on the back of his head to prevent him from getting out of control and backlash.

Therefore, Zhao Junchen has already planted several eyeliners by Li Ru'an's side - in recent years, Zhao Junchen has used various methods and channels to arrange a large number of eunuchs to enter the inner court, and also bought many low-level eunuchs in the inner court as eyes and ears, and Li Ruan is just one of them.

In this way, Li Ru'an's every move cannot escape Zhao Junchen's eyes.

In fact, not long after Li Ru'an arrived at Hexinlou for the banquet, Zhao Junchen had already received detailed news.

Moreover, the various intelligence agencies under Zhao Junchen are now quite large-scale, and they are also very efficient, and after some targeted investigation, they soon found signs that the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian had also appeared in Hexinlou.

When he received this information, Zhao Junchen was holding a banquet in Zhao's mansion to celebrate the success of Xu Qingyan and Mo Xiaolin's trip to Taiwan, and also to arrange the future prospects and tasks for the two of them by the way.

*

This celebration banquet is very simple, there are only a dozen dishes, and only Zhao Junchen, Xu Qingyan, and Mo Xiaolin are seated, which can be described as relaxed and casual.

"Xiaolin, since this period of time, have your thoughts changed, or do you want to make a career in the army?"

After Zhao Junchen personally sandwiched a piece of fish meat into Mo Xiaolin's bowl, he asked seemingly casually.

Today, Zhao Junchen's foundation in the army has become more and more solid, and his influence in the army is also increasing, and it is no longer meaningful to arrange Mo Xiaolin to enter the army for development.

From his own point of view, Zhao Junchen actually wants Mo Xiaolin to stay by his side to do things, this person's character, ability, loyalty and other aspects have merits, and staying by Zhao Junchen's side can also play more roles.

However, after Mo Xiaolin heard Zhao Junchen's inquiry, he still had a firm attitude, and he didn't care about eating with chopsticks, so he immediately got up and replied: "Old Zhao Ge, the villain still wants to fight a future with real knives and guns on the battlefield, the villain is from a military family, and he has been despised since he was a child because of his too delicate appearance, and the villain has already sworn in his heart that he must prove himself in the army in the future and be a general who guards the frontier and leads the army to fight!" ”

Zhao Junchen nodded with a little regret, but he didn't intend to force it, after all, Zhao Junchen had already promised Mo Xiaolin to arrange a future for him in the army - Zhao Junchen has never been a man of his word, as long as the interests are big enough, Zhao Junchen will never hesitate when he breaks the contract, but for this kind of small matter, Zhao Junchen still has to abide by the agreement.

So, Zhao Junchen just smiled and pressed his hand, and said: "Today is a family banquet, you don't have to be nervous, and I won't force you to change your ambitions, just sit down and talk, just feel free, let's talk while eating." ”

After speaking, Zhao Junchen first got down his chopsticks and ate a green vegetable, and said again: "If you really want to stay in the army, I have three choices for you here, first of all, Shaanxi and Gansu, I left a large number of old departments there, it is easy to arrange a position for you in a hundred households, as long as you make military achievements in the future, it is not difficult to further promote to a thousand households, and the imperial court has just recovered the Hetao area, I am afraid that it will not be peaceful in the next few years, and you will also have many opportunities for meritorious service!"

However, there is also a risk in this, you entered the battlefield as my stand-in, many people have witnessed your heroic posture on the battlefield, I am afraid that it is impressed, if you enter the Shaanxi-Gansu border army, maybe you will be recognized, and then it may cause unnecessary trouble, so you have to further change your appearance. ”

After thinking for a moment, Mo Xiaolin shook his head and said: "If this is the case, the villain will definitely not be able to go to Shaanxi and Gansu, the villain has never cared about his appearance, but the future of the villain must not threaten the overall situation of Zhao Gechen, even if it is only a little dangerous, the villain will not dare to take the risk." ”

Zhao Junchen nodded with satisfaction - these words were originally intended to test Mo Xiaolin's loyalty and overall concept.

Then, Zhao Junchen continued: "As for the second option, it is to go to Liaodong! The former Guyuan commander-in-chief, Fang Zhenshan, has now been promoted to the governor of Liaodong, which is equivalent to the permanent Qincha arranged by the imperial court in the Liaodong region, which can be regarded as a high position of power! But he is going to work alone, and there is a lack of arm help around him, if you are willing to go to Liaodong to assist him, you will inevitably be reused, and with Fang Zhenshan's means, at least you can arrange a garrison position!

However, for the imperial court, Liaodong Town has long been a big tail, quite a bit of a support for the army to raise Kou to self-respect, His Majesty appointed Fang Zhenshan as the governor of Liaodong, just to balance the Liaodong general He Yu, plus the Jianzhou Jurchen is currently a minister and a tribute, there should be no war in a short time, so after you go to Liaodong, there should be no chance to go to the battlefield in recent years, but to help Fang Zhenshan and Liaodong General He Yuming fight in secret. ”

This time, Mo Xiaolin still shook his head and said: "If the villain goes to Liaodong Town, of course, he will be able to ascend to a high position soon, but the villain is only good at fighting on the battlefield, and he doesn't know how to fight for power. ”

Zhao Junchen nodded again, and said: "As for the last option, that is to go to Guangxi!" Zhang Chengxun, the chief soldier of the Guangxi garrison, is also one of mine, where there are often toast rebellions, but there is no shortage of opportunities for meritorious service on the battlefield, and it is also close to the sea, and close to Annan...... You also know that I have plans to go to sea in the future, and the small countries south of my territory are all within my goal! If you go to Guangxi, you can join me in my next plan at any time! However, the environment in Guangxi is quite harsh, the land is sparsely populated, the people are all over the place, and the poisonous water is full of gas, you are from the forbidden army, and you have lived in the territory of Zhili for a long time, but I am afraid it is difficult to adapt. ”

This time, Zhao Junchen did not make it clear what kind of future Mo Xiaolin would have after going to Guangxi, but focused on describing the bad links in Guangxi, but Mo Xiaolin did not hesitate too much, just said after a moment of silence: "The villain is willing to go to Guangxi!" ”

Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed with a hint of appreciation, and he nodded: "In this case, I will hand you a handwritten letter tomorrow, and I will also arrange a ship for you, and after you rest for a few days, you can rush to Guangxi to join Zhang Chengxun!" However, this Zhang Chengxun has always been unrubbed with sand in his eyes, and Guan Wuyuan, as his top boss, was not taken seriously by him, once if I hadn't stopped him, he would have beaten Guan Wuyuan in public, so if you go to his side, you have to rely on your true talent and learning to let him reuse you, and I can't guarantee your future. ”

Mo Xiaolin's expression was a little excited, and he said, "If that's the case, I think I'll get along well with this Chief Zhang in the future." ”

Zhao Junchen couldn't help but smile and said, "You are confident." ”

In fact, Zhao Junchen currently has the strongest control over Xuanfu Military Town, and it is not difficult to arrange Mo Xiaolin to enter Xuanfu Town to hold a high position, but it is precisely because Zhao Junchen's control over Xuanfu Military Town is strong enough, so he did not include Xuanfu Military Town in the options, and even deliberately concealed it.

After talking about Mo Xiaolin, Zhao Junchen turned his head to look at Xu Qingyan, and was about to talk about his arrangements for Xu Qingyan.

Then, Zhao Junchen saw Xu Qingyan eating a braised lion's head with concentration, chewing slowly and tasting it seriously, his mouth full of oil and water.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but shake his head slightly, and then thought of something, a smile flashed at the corner of his mouth, and asked: "Qianxue, she has recently become obsessed with cooking, and the dishes on this table are all prepared by her own hands!" However, Qianxue is only good at those dishes with light tastes, such as braised lion's head, which should be completed with the help of others...... No wonder you love it so much. ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen's words, Xu Qingyan stiffened, and then put down his chopsticks with a sneer.

Zhao Junchen didn't intend to let him go, and asked, "After you returned home, you have already gone to the kitchen to see Chu Jiayi?" ”

Xu Qingyan's expression became more and more stiff, and he turned his head and said, "I, I just wanted to go to the kitchen in advance to find some food to fill my stomach, but I happened to meet it, and I happened to ask my wife for peace." ”

After Zhao Junchen smiled, he didn't dwell on it anymore, but said: "When a man is alive, he should do something, and he must not just think about stealing and playing tricks, and his children are long!" Don't you want to know the future I have arranged for you? ”

Xu Qingyan hesitated for a moment and said: "I still want to follow the young master, Zhao Dali is just a big boss, and it is more than enough to be a guard, but where can I be a long-term follower...... Young master, let me tell you, if you want to be a good long-term follower, there are too many doorways here, ushering in the send-off, cheering and interjecting, observing words and feelings, these things are all learning......"

Zhao Junchen shook his head and smiled, and said: "You guy, you really regard this kind of thing as a follower as your life ambition, and you have specially developed a set of knowledge, I really don't know if you are smart or stupid...... Don't worry, you will still follow me, Zhao Dali is indeed not as clever as you, but you will not only follow me in the future, but the storyteller's guild will also be fully responsible for you, how important this organization is and how much role it can play, you know best, this time you must do a good job, don't mess up again. ”

When the Storytellers' Guild was first formed, Xu Qingyan also participated, of course, because he understood that Zhao Junchen had high hopes for this organization, and he himself was also very interested in the operation mode of the Storytellers' Guild - making up stories, exaggerating, guiding public opinion, and boasting and deprecating - these things were simply tailor-made for Xu Qingyan, and he could give full play to his talent.

"Responsible? Fang Ru: They won't interfere? Won't point fingers at faults? Xu Qingyan asked.

Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "The framework of the Storyteller's Guild has been set up, and you don't need to worry about the operation and expenditure, you only need to complete the tasks I assigned in the future, and I will only arrange a few staff members to assist you." ”

"Okay! Then I will not disappoint the young master this time! After getting Zhao Junchen's assurance, Xu Qingyan's expression was also a little more excited, and he finally took the first step to take charge of himself.

Zhao Junchen hesitated for a moment, and did not tell Xu Qingyan more, on the one hand, because Mo Xiaolin was still on the side, and he couldn't let him know too much about the affairs of the Storyteller's Guild, on the other hand, he didn't want to discourage Xu Qingyan's enthusiasm, controlling a large organization is by no means an easy thing, and there are many things that can only be learned after Xu Qingyan personally runs into a wall.

However, the Storytellers Guild will soon have a big move, which can be regarded as the first test Xu Qingyan has accepted, and Zhao Junchen will be watching in the dark to prevent things from getting out of control.

*

After arranging the future and tasks for Xu Qingyan and Mo Xiaolin, the atmosphere at the banquet suddenly became cold.

Zhao Junchen had something in his heart, and couldn't help but start thinking about the matter of the crown prince Zhu and Yu again, Mo Xiaolin has always been silent, and he will not take the initiative to provoke the topic at this time, and Xu Qingyan also began to seriously think about the matter of the Storyteller's Guild, and he didn't want to mess up again.

But this calm did not last long and was soon broken.

As the sound of footsteps sounded, a Zhao Mansion steward quickly walked into the room, ignoring Xu Qingyan and Mo Xiaolin on the side, and just handed Zhao Junchen a note.

Zhao Junchen took the note and glanced at it, and suddenly his expression was serious.

"If you suddenly encounter something and have to leave the table early, you don't need to pay attention to me, just continue to eat."

After speaking, Zhao Junchen got up and left directly, and quickly rushed to the small study.

When Zhao Junchen entered the study, he found that Fang Ru and Zhang Yu'er had been waiting for a long time, and their faces were a little nervous and serious.

The plan to infiltrate the palace is one of the most confidential and core plans among Zhao Junchen's many plans, so he did not let his staff participate in it, and it has always been the responsibility of a few people in the inner house, and now he can only discuss countermeasures with Fang Ru and Zhang Yuer.

After Zhao Junchen entered the room, he didn't go around in circles, but went straight to the point, and immediately asked, "Zhu Hejian secretly met Li Ru'an?" ”

Zhang Yu'er also nodded immediately, and replied quickly: "Yes, in Hexin Tower in the west of the city, it is Wu Xinquan, the eunuch who is in charge of the front bridge, and he is involved in the whole process!" We've been keeping an eye on these guys, so we got the news very quickly! It's just that the three of them couldn't find out what they talked about in Hexin Building. ”

Zhao Junchen sat behind the desk and said coldly, "Oh? So, Wu Xinquan has already made it clear that he wants to take refuge in Zhu Hejian? I saw that there has not been much movement in the Imperial Horse Supervisor and the East and West No. 2 Factory, and I thought that he would also wait and see what happened, but I didn't expect to stand in line so soon. ”

Zhang Yu'er sneered: "In the inner court, the Imperial Horse Supervisor has always been responsible for military affairs, and must rely on the army to play a role, and the East and West Second Factory has always been responsible for detectives, and must also rely on Jinyiwei to do things, but Emperor Deqing has always been tightly grasped for military affairs and Jinyiwei, even if they want to take refuge in Zhu Hejian, they will never dare to express their position easily, otherwise it will be easy for Emperor Deqing to detect the signs, but the ceremonial supervisor is different, all the personnel are eunuchs in the inner court, and they don't need too many scruples when standing in line." ”

On the other side, Fang Ru was worried: "The focus at the moment is still Li Ru'an's matter!" The Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian's methods are extraordinary, and the confusion is extremely high, if Li Ru'an betrays the lord because of Zhu Hejian's demagogy and tells Zhu Hejian all the information about the master, I am afraid that it will be a big deal. ”

Zhao Junchen asked, "Is there any abnormal movement in the palace and the Seven Princes' Mansion?" ”

Fang Ru replied: "There is no abnormal movement, the Seven Princes' Mansion is still loose on the outside and tight on the inside, and it is now forbidden time in the palace, all palace doors have been closed, and I haven't heard of any movement." ”

After hearing this, Zhao Junchen became more and more calm, and said: "Zhu Hejian will try to buy Li Ruan for his own use, this is something that has been expected for a long time, I believe that Li Ruan is a smart person, and he will not immediately and completely throw himself into Zhu Hejian, he will only take the opportunity to fight for his own benefits!"

What's more, even if Li Ruan leaked my information to Zhu Hejian, what would it do? I've always been on guard against him, and I've never let him get in touch with my core plan, at most, to let Zhu Hejian know that I've been secretly infiltrating the inner court, but so what? Does Zhu Hejian dare to expose me to Emperor Deqing? He would never dare! That would only expose the fact that he was also infiltrating the inner court! ”

After a pause, Zhao Junchen's voice also became cold, and he said, "However, just in case, things that should be done still have to be done!" If Li Ru'an doesn't confess to me about his secret contact with Zhu Hejian after the palace door opens tomorrow, it means that he already wants to betray me! In that case, this person will not be able to stay. ”

Speaking of this, a trace of regret flashed in Zhao Junchen's expression, after all, he had spent a lot of effort to support Li Ru'an to ascend to the throne.

Zhao Junchen always thought that Zhu Hejian's heart was too ruthless, but in fact, after Zhao Junchen had gone through the experience of the Shaanxi and Gansu wars, he would definitely not give up too much.

After Zhang Yu'er heard this, she immediately nodded and said: "The little eunuch who sends food to Li Ru'an on weekdays is our person, his inner court grade is not high, and the palace residence is not well-defended, it is easy to let him die, but it is better to think about who to blame for this matter." ”

Since Fang Ru became pregnant, she has not been as firm as before, and now she is still worried about Zhong Zhong, and said: "But no matter what, I always feel that this Li Ru'an is too ambitious and uncontrollable, and sooner or later it will be a hidden danger!" Master, you support this kind of person, and I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse! ”

Zhao Junchen had regained his composure, and he was also sympathetic to Fang Ru's mood swings during pregnancy, and he did not feel unhappy because Fang Ru questioned his original decision, but comforted: "Ambitious people may not be capable, but capable people often have ambitions, like Zuo Lanshan and Huo Zhengyuan, who are capable and unambitious, it is really difficult to find!" If it weren't for Li Ru'an's great ambition, he would not have been able to climb up without any means after entering the inner court, he would not have been able to get to this point today, even if he was loyal to me, he would not be able to provide much help! Things in the world are always so pros and cons!

But Ru'er, you don't have to worry, I still need Li Ru'an's ambitions, these ambitions can drive him to climb higher and go further in the inner court, so there are many times, I will deliberately indulge him, but when he reaches a sufficient position, can play a sufficient role, and needs him to do things for me loyally, I will naturally personally extinguish those ambitions in his heart, and I can't tolerate him to resist! ”

Speaking of the back, Zhao Junchen's expression was very confident.

Li Ru'an was created by Zhao Junchen himself, and he knew very well how to make Li Ru'an submit.

If Li Ruan is unwilling to give in at that time, Zhao Junchen can easily destroy him!

*

Soon, it was early the next morning.

On this day, the court meeting was still not held, and Li Ru'an only freshened up a little after getting up, and rushed to the imperial study to be on duty.

It's just that before leaving the room, Li Ruan hid a secret letter in a secret compartment in his room, and when he left the room to lock the door, the door lock used was also a little different from usual.

This is the means of contact between Li Ruan and Zhao Junchen, if Li Ruan wants to contact Zhao Junchen urgently, he will leave the room for a period of time, and use different styles of door locks when locking the door, and when Li Ruan goes away, someone will naturally enter the room to take Li Ruan's information from the dark grid, and Li Ruan will never know who his contact is.

On the other hand, perhaps because he had thought too much the day before, Zhao Junchen didn't get up until three o'clock in the morning, and he was still tired after getting up.

However, before Zhao Junchen could wash his face and sober up, he saw Xu Qingyan come to report that Li Ruan had sent a secret letter from the palace.

Zhao Junchen was suddenly shocked, and hurriedly took Li Ru'an's secret letter and looked through it.

After reading the secret letter, Zhao Junchen snorted coldly: "This Li Ru'an is really too smart!" ”

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