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Age and seniority really matter.

Zhao Junchen's exploits and power are not bad, and he rarely falls into disadvantage when fighting openly and secretly with various factions, but it will still attract the contempt and hostility of these old ministers, and they will always subconsciously think that all of Zhao Junchen's achievements are due to luck.

Zhou Shangjing is different, his qualifications and prestige are here, Shen Changmao, Cheng Yuandao and others have also been beaten and convinced by him over the years, even if Zhou Shangjing has been low-key and rarely made achievements during this time, but still no one dares to openly question his attitude.

Therefore, as Zhou Shangjing opened his mouth to express his position, Shen Changmao and Cheng Yuandao were stunned for a moment, then they both closed their mouths, and then turned away directly with an indignant expression.

After he glanced at Zhou Shangjing, he saw that Zhou Shangjing did not respond in time, and he already knew Zhou Shangjing's attitude, so he nodded and smiled at Zhao Junchen, and walked away leisurely.

After all the irrelevant pavilion elders walked away, Zhou Shangjing's expression was full of kindness, and he said slowly: "Let's go slowly, let's talk as we go." ”

Zhao Junchen's attitude was still respectful, and after nodding in agreement, he took Zhou Shangjing's arm, far behind several pavilion elders, and walked towards the location of Wenhua Palace.

Zhou Shangjing seemed to be very satisfied with Zhao Junchen's attitude, and his attitude became more and more kind, and he said slowly: "Your greeting post, the old man has received it, but the old man is already old, and his energy is getting weaker and weaker, and after dealing with the affairs of the court in the Wenhua Hall every day, he will no longer have the heart to take care of other things when he returns to the mansion, so you don't want to visit the old man's mansion, if there is anything to do while the old man still has energy, let's talk about it here...... Moreover, if the two of us are too close, Your Majesty will also think crankily, which is not a good thing. ”

"The younger generation understands that Elder Zhou Ge is about to tell the old man, and at this time, he naturally doesn't want to arouse His Majesty's jealousy again." Zhao Junchen chuckled in response, and also hinted that he had guessed the real reason for Zhou Shangjing's various practices during this period of time.

Seeing that Zhou Shangjing just didn't move, Zhao Junchen continued: "The juniors want to visit the seniors of Zhou, mainly for the sake of luck!" If the juniors are not mistaken, this time the luck jam is your handiwork, right?

The younger generation asked, this year's water traffic jam is very strange, the time is not early or late, all the boats are blocked in the south of Jining, the reason is that the river bank collapsed, a large amount of sediment happened to block the narrowest part of the river, and then it caused the river water volume to decline, a large number of boats stranded...... The current prefect of Jining is your protégé Su Peng, right?

There is also the reason why the household yamen can't get enough silver to dredge the river, and it's all because of the big opening of the lion of the ministry and the Caoyun yamen, Chen Dongxiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, was set up by Ye Shanghong, the left waiter of the Ministry of Industry, this Ye Shanghong is your student, and Zhang Keshuang, the governor of Caoyun, is the grandson of his predecessors...... Seniors, you have always focused on the overall situation, and in the past, you would never deliberately make things difficult for the household department in the most difficult time for the imperial court, so the lion's big opening between the Ministry of Industry and Caoyun Yamen this time was all because of your instructions from your seniors, that is, you want to force the younger generations out, is this so? ”

The expression on Zhou Shangjing's old face finally changed a little, full of admiration, and nodded: "Junchen, you are really smart, these little methods of the old man were actually debunked by you at a glance, it is really terrifying!" Alas, every time I see Junchen, the old man will always be happy, fortunately Junchen you were born decades late, otherwise the old man would not be where he is today...... When the old man was young, he was far worse than Junchen. ”

"The seniors have won the award, but the juniors dare not accept it! Such a small trick by you, the seniors, immediately drove the juniors from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, cut off the idea of the juniors watching from the sidelines, and completely disrupted the future plans of the juniors, and even forced His Majesty to reach a consensus with the various factions of the imperial court, so that the juniors' sphere of influence can only be trapped in a corner of the finances from now on...... The younger generation does not dare to compare with the seniors! ”

This time, Zhou Shangjing smiled and nodded calmly, and said slowly: "It is indeed some small means, but everything in this world is always unpredictable...... On the contrary, those that seem earth-shattering are often the end of the project. ”

Zhou Shangjing's hints and teachings, Zhao Junchen naturally understood it.

When Zhao Junchen presided over the military administration on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu some time ago, his intention to meddle in military power was indeed obvious, and this situation not only aroused the suspicion of Emperor Deqing, but also aroused the suspicion of Zhou Shangjing.

Zhou Shangjing is a real pillar of the country, although he will seek benefits for himself and his friends, but he will also do his best to maintain the stability of the situation in the government and the opposition, so after he saw that Zhao Junchen had a vague possibility of flipping the table, he immediately took action to guide the situation in the court, so that Zhao Junchen's power expansion fell into an obvious bottleneck.

As a result, Zhao Junchen's eyes fluctuated, and his attitude became more and more respectful, and he said: "This is natural, and the younger generation must take the seniors as an example in the future...... However, what puzzles the juniors is, why are you in a hurry to force the juniors out? Just let the juniors hide in the house and get sick, it doesn't seem to be any harm to the seniors, right? ”

Zhou Shangjing was silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed and said: "In the past year, the old man's physical condition has become more and more unbearable, and he has only forcibly supported it during this time!" Just like Junchen you said, it is not far from the day when the old man will tell the old man, so Junchen, you must think that in order to have a good death for himself, the old man has been encouraging Junchen to be in the limelight and expand his power, so that His Majesty will shift his attention from the old man to Junchen you, right? ”

Zhao Junchen was silent and did not answer directly, but he also acquiesced to Zhou Shangjing's statement.

Zhou Shangjing didn't intend to get a response from Zhao Junchen, and quickly continued: "With Junchen's vision and wisdom, the old man won't hide it from you at this time, otherwise he will be ugly!" Indeed, at the age of the old man, the things he looks forward to the most are the good end of old age and death, and the continuation of the family's wealth, but if the old man only has these things in his heart, he will not be able to sit in today's position!

For the old man, the evaluation of the history after a hundred years is also very important, the old man has devoted a lifetime of hard work to this court, although he is not a minister of Zhongxing, but he has also worked hard to maintain the general stability of the situation between the government and the opposition, and naturally he can't bear to see the court gradually decline and get out of control in the future......"

Speaking of this, Zhou Shangjing's tone was a little more serious, and he summed up softly: "Therefore, there are some things that the old man must solve completely before he can no longer hold on to it, remove some hidden dangers in the temple, and let this court continue smoothly, otherwise won't the old man's life's hard work be put into flowing water?" ”

Zhou Shangjing's voice was very soft, and Zhao Junchen's expression was still calm.

But hearing Zhou Shangjing's words, Zhao Junchen's heart was turbulent.

Since Zhao Junchen came to this world, Zhou Shangjing has always deliberately maintained a low-key and inactive attitude, and has always guided the situation and pushed the boat along the river.

But now looking at Zhou Shangjing's statement, he obviously intends to make a difference!

It is conceivable that with the political energy that Zhou Shangjing has accumulated over the past few decades, once he starts to act, he will inevitably be an astonishing masterpiece!

Interestingly, Zhou Shangjing just advised Zhao Junchen not to make a big move, but he couldn't bear it.

Zhao Junchen finally regained his composure, and exclaimed: "Zhou Gelao's mind and ambition really surprised the younger generation. ”

Zhou Shangjing smiled and said, "This is actually because of you, Junchen, do you remember the last conversation between you and me?" If it weren't for your reminder, the old man would only be afraid that he would not be able to find the hidden dangers of food in the imperial court, and would only think that the natural disasters over the years were just accidental, but after Junchen's reminder, the old man also investigated in detail in private, and found that the rainfall in various parts of the imperial court is indeed less and less every year, and various disasters are also more and more every year, this trend has continued for several years, and there are similar records in the history books, I am afraid that it is not a coincidence, and then the old man investigated the grain harvest in various places, and it is more and more shocking, and he only feels restless......

At such a time, the next new monarch is very important, if a Ming monarch who knows how to make good use of people and pities the people, he can still survive, but if he encounters a ruthless, suspicious and fickle emperor, the Ming Dynasty is afraid that it will be difficult to tide over the difficulties! But on the contrary, it was Junchen again, and you hinted to the old man that the Seventh Prince had another true face......"

Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed, and he asked, "So, senior, you have already secretly investigated the Seventh Prince?" ”

Zhou Shangjing asked without answering: "Junchen, do you think that when did His Royal Highness the current crown prince start to be doomed to be deposed by His Majesty?" ”

Zhao Junchen was slightly stunned, but he had never seriously considered this issue.

At this time, after hearing Zhou Shangjing's inquiry, Zhao Junchen pondered seriously for a moment with a serious face, and then said, "But...... From the beginning of the tragic destruction of the crown prince and master He Ming? ”

Zhou Shangjing once again looked appreciative and nodded: "That's right!" The crown prince has the responsibility of guiding the prince and the prince, and for the prince, this candidate is extremely important! At the beginning, the candidate for the prince and the prince was Xiao Wenruan, this person has always been old and serious, even if His Royal Highness the prince is occasionally a little reckless under his teaching, but he has never made a big mistake, after Xiao Wenruan died of old age, he recommended He Ming to become the prince and the prince, this He Ming is even more powerful, the most proficient in the emperor's mental arts, if His Royal Highness the prince has his assistance, then it must be worry-free...... But it's a pity that on the way to the capital, He Ming was tragically wiped out by bandits, and this matter was closed on the surface, but the real culprit behind the scenes has not been found! ”

Zhao Junchen said: "So, the predecessors think that the real culprit behind the destruction of He Ming's family must not want His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to succeed to the throne smoothly, so they secretly investigated?" ”

Zhou Shangjing nodded again and sighed: "He Ming and the old man are friends and enemies most of the time, but they are also sympathetic, after learning of his death, the old man has been sending people to investigate secretly, but all the clues have been interrupted, and there is no result, but after the old man got Junchen's reminder, he linked He Ming's murder case with the Seven Princes, and started the investigation again from this direction, but also found some signs...... These signs do not prove that the Seventh Prince is the real culprit behind the scenes, but they are enough to make the old man suspicious! If the Seventh Prince is really a ruthless, gloomy, suspicious and fickle character, he must not entrust the country to him, and the old man does not dare to take this risk! ”

Hearing Zhou Shangjing's words, Zhao Junchen's heart was faintly excited.

Zhou Shangjing's statement, does it mean that he and Zhou Shangjing have the possibility of working together to deal with the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian? With some Zhou Shangjing's assistance, Zhao Junchen would be much easier to deal with the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian in the future.

Of course, if Zhou Shangjing already had a detailed plan to deal with the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian, Zhao Junchen was also willing to be a secondary role responsible for assisting.

However, before Zhao Junchen could open his mouth to test, Zhou Shangjing seemed to have guessed Zhao Junchen's thoughts in advance.

Zhou Shangjing's seemingly dim old eyes looked at Zhao Junchen, but there was an unprecedented sharpness hidden in it: "This matter, the old man can handle it alone!" Junchen, you just need to do your own thing. ”

Seeing Zhou Shangjing's attitude, Zhao Junchen suddenly understood.

In Zhou Shangjing's eyes, the Seventh Prince, Zhu and Jianran, were an unstable factor affecting the future situation of the temple...... But Zhao Junchen is also a destabilizing factor that will affect the future situation of the temple.

Zhou Shangjing's various statements today are actually hinting and warning Zhao Junchen, so that Zhao Junchen can concentrate on the task of improving the imperial court's finances in the future and not interfere too much in other things.

Otherwise, when Zhou Shangjing takes action to clear the unstable factors, he may include Zhao Junchen!

This is also Zhou Shangjing's attitude from beginning to end, Zhao Junchen's current power expansion bottleneck was originally promoted by Zhou Shangjing.

Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed slightly, but in the next moment, he lowered his head and said: "Since this is the case, everything is handed over to the seniors, and the juniors are naturally very relieved." ”

"There is also the matter of His Royal Highness the Prince, the old man knows that you and the prince have joined forces, and he doesn't plan to interfere too much, because the old man is not sure whether the prince's changes and growth are good or bad, and he is not sure how long His Majesty can tolerate you, but the old man's attitude is still the same as just now...... You and the crown prince can have a small fight in the future, but you don't have to fight in a big way! ”

"Understood!"

When Zhao Junchen nodded, his expression had returned to calm.

Seeing Zhao Junchen's deference and calmness, Zhou Shangjing frowned slightly.

*

In this way, between the seemingly calm conversations, Zhao Junchen had already helped Zhou Shangjing to the door of the Wenhua Palace.

Zhou Shangjing glanced up at the signboard of Wenhua Palace, suddenly shook his head and smiled, and said: "Old, really old, and more and more forgetful, this conversation talked about the present, but I forgot the cause...... You sent me a sticker for luck, right? You promised Your Majesty and the hundred officials at the court meeting that you would let the first batch of Caoyun money and grain arrive in the capital within a month, and if you want to do this kind of thing, you must use extraordinary means, but the Caoyun matter can be said to be very important, and you are worried that it will attract a backlash from the Caoyun Yamen and more than 100,000 Caogong, so you want to seek the help of the old man, right? It doesn't matter, you can do it boldly, if nothing happens, it's fine, if something happens...... That's even better! ”

It's okay if nothing happens, but it's even better if something happens?

Hearing Zhou Shangjing's statement, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but be stunned, and he didn't react for a while.

But in the next moment, Zhao Junchen thought of something that everyone had become accustomed to, but suddenly it was abrupt!

Then, Zhao Junchen also admired and respected Zhou Shangjing's clever means more and more!

Zhou Shangjing deliberately created this Cao Yun crisis, not only to make a sum of money for him and his officials, nor just to force Zhao Junchen to the front of the curtain in advance - the most important thing is that he also wants to take advantage of this opportunity to bring down the current cabinet chief assistant Shen Changmao in one fell swoop!

It's really killing three birds with one stone!

If Zhou Shangjing wants to do great things, he must first restore his position as the first assistant above 10,000 people under him! In this way, it will be more convenient for him to do things in the future!

Therefore, Shen Changmao's existence is a bit of an eyesore!

Moreover, Zhou Shangjing also made it clear that he cares very much about his evaluation of the history after a hundred years, and now the imperial court is about to recover the Hetao, and it is necessary to invest a lot of resources to stabilize the rule of northern Xinjiang in the future, and Zhao Junchen's reforms are also the time to see results, these things are inseparable from the support of the first assistant of the current dynasty, once it is completed, it will also make the first auxiliary of the current dynasty make a strong mark in the history!

However, Shen Changmao's ability is not enough to take on the big responsibility, and many times it may be bad, and these merits should not be counted on his head, so Zhou Shangjing has to take back the power of the first assistant from him!

For Zhou Shangjing, this is not too difficult to do.

As he himself said, it only takes a little trick.

Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen nodded seriously and said, "Since this is the case, the younger generation is naturally bold to do it!" In fact, at this time, Li Chengru, the head of the household, had already taken leave of absence from His Majesty and rushed to Jining Mansion in person! In just three to five days, the imperial court will receive the news! ”

Zhou Shangjing smiled slightly and said slowly: "Then the old man is waiting for good news!" ”

While speaking, Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing had already stepped into the Wenhua Palace.

*

Because of Emperor Deqing's deliberate means, as the core of the temple, the Wenhua Hall seems to be a little dilapidated, and the main hall is also extremely narrow, only about three zhang in width and length, and can only accommodate seven or eight bookcases and chairs.

This place is the office of the elders on weekdays.

The space is small and crowded, but it also has an advantage, that is, it is very convenient for the elders to discuss things with each other and circulate the recitals.

In addition to a few elders in the Wenhua Palace, there are also seven or eight Zhongshu scholars, three or five Hanlin, as well as a different number of book officials and reviewers who are responsible for assisting, and Lin Li has only more than 20 members in total.

On the left and right sides of the main hall, there are more than ten individual rooms, some of which belong to the elders, who usually do not need to get together to discuss government affairs, they will go to their personal rooms to recuperate and think, and some rooms are the offices of the scholars and the Hanlin.

The large and small chapters of the whole country are all handed over to the general political envoy to summarize, and then handed over to the celebrant to submit to the emperor for inspection, and finally handed over to the cabinet, by several cabinet elders to discuss and draft a specific opinion, and then by the celebrant to submit the opinion to the emperor for approval, and finally the six departments are responsible for proofreading and distribution, and the six ministries and local yamen are responsible for the specific implementation.

Seeing the appearance of Zhou Shangjing and Zhao Junchen, a Chinese scholar hurriedly greeted him.

The attitude of this Zhongshu scholar was extremely respectful, and after saluting Zhou Shangjing, he asked Zhao Junchen for instructions: "Xiaguan Xu Cheng, I have seen Zhao Gechen!" Since Your Majesty canonized you as a scholar of the palace, Xia Guan and others have arranged the office room and the copywriting tables and chairs in the main hall for Zhao Gechen, and I hope that Zhao Gechen will take a look at it, if there is anything dissatisfied, Xia Guan will solve it for Zhao Gechen as soon as possible. ”

Zhao Junchen asked, "The rest of the pavilion elders are currently discussing matters in the palace?" ”

Xu Cheng nodded again and again, and said, "Liaodong has sent another note, it seems that there is some urgency, and the elders are discussing a solution. ”

After Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing glanced at each other, Zhao Junchen said: "In that case, I'd better go to the main hall to discuss business with the elders of the pavilion first, and then go to see the room layout afterwards." ”

After speaking, Zhao Junchen raised his hand and let Zhou Shangjing walk in front, while he followed behind Zhou Shangjing, and the two of them entered the main hall of Wenyuan Pavilion.

As soon as he entered the main hall, Zhao Junchen heard the voices of Cheng Yuandao and Li He arguing.

I saw Cheng Yuandao said with an excited expression: "The Jianzhou Jurchen took the initiative to ask the court to surrender, the importance of this matter, you and I are well aware of it, it must be that the Jianzhou Jurchen was in awe after seeing the imperial army defeat the Mongolian coalition army in one fell swoop, so they will take the initiative to surrender, which shows that the imperial court is mighty, once it is spread, it can also boost the morale of the people, how can it be ignored?" ”

Li He shook his head again and again: "In the past hundred years, why has this Jianzhou female Allah asked for surrender once?" But every time it is surrendered, it is surrendered, the imperial court is also annoyed, and the defense of the Liaodong military town does not dare to reduce the slightest bit, and the government and the opposition are also used to this kind of thing, how can they boost their morale because the Jianzhou girl really asked for surrender again? What's more, every time the Jianzhou Jurchens ask for surrender, they will reach out to the imperial court to ask for money and food, and this time it is a lion who opens his mouth, how can the imperial court be deceived again? ”

Cheng Yuandao slapped the table and said loudly: "Li He, you are confused!" In the same year, the imperial court first recovered the Hetao, and then recruited the Jurchens, which is simply a fortunate event for all countries to come to the court, which is enough to record a thick ink in the history! What's more, if they reject the Jianzhou Jurchens like this, if they are annoyed and angry, wouldn't it be a resumption of war? The main task of the imperial court now is to recover the Hetao, so how can the two sides go to war? ”

Li He still shook his head again and again: "As far as I know, the Jianzhou Jurchens have also suffered from natural disasters in the past few years, and countless soldiers and civilians in the territory have starved to death. Cheng Ge is too worried, and the Jianzhou Jurchen may not have the ability to start a war! ”

On the other side, Shen Changmao listened to the fierce argument between Cheng Yuandao and Li He with an expressionless face, and after raising his eyes to see Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing entering the main hall, he first nodded at them, but there was a sense of weirdness in his heart, and he only felt that Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing looked at him a little strangely.

Then, I saw Zhou Shangjing go directly to the position next to Shen Changmao and sit down, and Shen Changmao handed a few copies to Zhou Shangjing to read.

At the same time, Zhao Junchen also found a vacant seat at the bottom and sat down, listening to the conversation of several elders with a serious expression.

It seems that the Jianzhou Jurchen took the initiative to ask the court to surrender, but whether to accept the surrender of the Jianzhou Jurchen, Cheng Yuandao and Li He's opinions are diametrically opposed.

Just when Zhao Junchen was thinking, Zhou Shangjing had already finished reading a few notes in his hand, and passed them to Zhao Junchen to read.

When Zhao Junchen stretched out his hand to take it, he saw that Zhou Shangjing's white eyebrows were already twisted.

……

After reading the decision-making of the British Empire, I found that my Zhao Junchen is really a soft-hearted and benevolent person!

Also herd immunity...... Antibodies can only last for half a year at most!

I have serious suspicions that the coronavirus has mutated in the UK from pneumonia to encephalitis.

There are too many slots, and I don't know what to say.

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