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After this court meeting, Emperor Deqing summoned Zhao Junchen alone in the imperial study.

Speaking of which, Zhao Junchen and Emperor Deqing have not been alone for a long time.

In a way, this is also a manifestation that the relationship between the two of them has gradually drifted apart and looks like a god.

After meeting Zhao Junchen, Emperor Deqing's attitude was very kind, but he was no longer casual and wanton; At the same time, Zhao Junchen's attitude is also very respectful and humble, but he is also no longer the same as before.

During the conversation, Emperor Deqing first cared about Zhao Junchen's physical condition, and then consulted Zhao Junchen for some opinions on court affairs, involving the Hetao War, the Six Ministries of Nanjing, the reform of commercial taxes, etc., and even focused on the interest after the household department borrowed silver from Emperor Deqing.

However, Emperor Deqing never asked Zhao Junchen about the predicament of Cao Yun - it stands to reason that this is the most urgent thing for the imperial court at present, and it is also the thing that Emperor Deqing is most concerned about at present.

This is because Emperor Deqing knew very well in his heart that with the current situation of the imperial court, if ordinary means were used, it would be impossible to solve this problem in a short period of time!

Therefore, if you want to do something extraordinary, you must use extraordinary means, and this kind of deviant means is bound to cause a lot of controversy.

So, in this case, Emperor Deqing will never take the initiative to ask, Zhao Junchen will never take the initiative to mention, if Zhao Junchen finally successfully solved the problem of Caoyun, and did not cause too much controversy, then naturally everyone is happy, Emperor Deqing no longer has to worry about Caoyun, Zhao Junchen has also made great contributions again.

But if the problem of Cao Yun was not solved in the end, or if there was too much controversy after solving the problem of Cao Yun, that is, Zhao Junchen took the responsibility alone, and Emperor Deqing did not need to help Zhao Junchen share the pressure because he did not know it in advance.

In this regard, the relationship between Zhao Junchen and Emperor Deqing is no longer what it used to be, but their tacit understanding is still there.

After talking about the time of the incense, Emperor Deqing suddenly pulled out a note from his hand and said: "This is a note that you sent here before you returned to Beijing, saying that when you hope that the imperial court will punish Li Xun, the governor of Shanxi, it is best not to affect Li Xun's family...... But considering the situation of Annanbo and Zheng Zhilong? ”

Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "That's true, Li Xun is the descendant of Zheng Zhilong's father-in-law Li, if Your Majesty connects Li Xun's clansmen, it means that the bloodline will be cut off, and no one knows how Zheng Zhilong will react after receiving the news...... You also know that Annanbo has always listened to tunes and not listened to announcements, and the court is currently in an eventful time, so it's best not to deliberately provoke him! It's just that Li Xun was severely punished, leaving the lives and future of Li Xun's people, and then sent a letter to An Nanbo, telling him that the court's approach was to give him a face, and presumably An Nanbo would appreciate it. ”

After hearing Zhao Junchen's explanation, Emperor Deqing's expression was a little unhappy.

As the Ninth Five-Year Emperor, Emperor Deqing has long been accustomed to being arbitrary, and hates being forced to sell face, and Annanbo's Zheng family has long become a heart disease of the imperial court, and now before Annanbo Zheng Zhilong can react, the imperial court will take into account his reaction and take the lead in making concessions, which makes Emperor Deqing more and more unhappy.

Seeing the change in Emperor Deqing's expression, Zhao Junchen said softly: "Your Majesty, such a suggestion from the minister is also for the overall situation of the imperial court!" With your wisdom, it is natural to see that in recent years, various localities have frequently encountered natural disasters, grain harvests are often in deficit, the national grain stocks will be exhausted from time to time, and the food gap will expand every year......

However, after all, this is only a temporary measure, and the price of private grain has doubled in recent years, and the people are miserable! There is only so much arable land in the imperial court, and it is difficult to greatly increase the food supply, and it will take more than two years for the minister's agricultural reform to see significant results......"

Speaking of this, Zhao Junchen smiled wryly, and said: "Although the minister has a way to make money, but the silver is becoming less and less valuable now, and often he can't buy food with silver in his hand!" If this situation continues, the minister is worried that sooner or later the imperial court will encounter a big trouble that cannot be solved! ……

Therefore, the minister was forced to intercede for Li Xun's clansmen, that is, he wanted to take the opportunity to show favor to the Zheng family of Annanbo, and then find some new channels to buy grain through the Zheng family, the Zheng family's fleet is huge, and the scope of action includes dozens of small countries outside China, which must help the imperial court tide over the difficulties of the past two years! ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen's explanation, Emperor Deqing's expression was still a little hesitant.

Emperor Deqing also knew that the imperial court was worried about food, but after all, it was not an imminent trouble, so he did not want to take the initiative to show favor to Annanbo's Zheng family.

Zhao Junchen knew that Emperor Deqing had always had a good face, so he persuaded again: "However, this is just to take advantage of Annanbo's Zheng family for a while!" After the minister's agricultural reform, commercial tax reform, Sichuan salt development and other measures have achieved results, the imperial court no longer needs to worry about money and grain!

At that time, the imperial court not only has an endless supply of money and food, but also has the great military exploits of attacking Mongolia in the north to recover the territory, and there is no shortage of morale and people's hearts, and the Zheng family of Annanbo will no longer be the opponent of the imperial court. ”

This time, Emperor Deqing's expression softened slightly, and he was finally moved.

After pondering for a long time, Emperor Deqing asked again: "In this letter, you also recommended that the elder Zuo Lanshan leave Beijing to go to Shanxi and succeed him as the governor of Shanxi, but it is also for your next commercial tax rectification plan?" ”

Zhao Junchen still nodded and said, "Your Majesty Shengming, you can see through the thoughts of the ministers at a glance!" With the United Shipping Company on the right track, the commercial tax rectification of the southeastern provinces of the imperial court has achieved initial results, and in just half a year, the commercial tax revenue of the imperial court has increased more than three times, and there will be more and more in the future!

Therefore, the minister's next goal is to implement the commercial tax rectification to the northwest provinces, follow the successful case of the United Shipping Company, and also unite the Jin Merchants and Shaanxi Merchants to serve the imperial court in one place! What's more, Shanxi connects the three sides of Zhili and Shaanxi and Gansu, and after the imperial court officially recovered the Hetao area, this position is also very important, related to the logistics supply of the Shaanxi and Gansu sides and the Hetao area, and there must be no light!

In this way, there must be an important minister of the imperial court with sufficient weight in Shanxi! The minister thought about it, or Zuolanshan Zuoge Lao is the most suitable, he is not only enough, but also knows some things about commercial tax rectification, and he serves as the governor of Shanxi, and the policies of the imperial court can be quickly implemented. ”

Emperor Deqing pondered for a long time again, and finally nodded: "In that case, these two things will be done according to what you say!" Tomorrow morning, I will announce the appointment of Zuo Lanshan...... However, you don't have to meddle in the matter of the imperial court's contact with An Nanbo, I will naturally send another suitable person to Fujian to contact Zheng Zhilong, you just need to help make some suggestions. ”

Zhao Junchen's various statements are certainly reasonable, but Emperor Deqing will never allow Zhao Junchen to establish too close relations with the Zheng family of Annanbo.

If these two forces collude together, even Emperor Deqing will have a headache.

In contrast, the appointment of Zuo Lanshan as the governor of Shanxi is just a small matter, although it is to expand Zhao Junchen's power influence, but all this is to reverse the situation of the imperial court's finances beyond its means, as long as the imperial court's finances are completely on the right track, and there is no need to worry about trouble in a short time, Emperor Deqing will no longer have to rely on Zhao Junchen's means, and it may not be difficult to uproot Zhao Junchen's power at that time - at least, Emperor Deqing is thinking like this now.

Emperor Deqing didn't know that Zhao Junchen had already sent his envoy Xu Qingyan, who had already escorted Li Xun's family and clansmen to Fujian at this time.

But on the surface, Zhao Junchen still looked deferential, and hurriedly agreed.

After talking about these things, Emperor Deqing talked to Zhao Junchen about some family things, and deliberately praised Zhao Yinger, who is now a concubine, saying that Zhao Yinger has always been a virtuous woman after entering the palace, and she has won the love of Emperor Deqing, and she will look for opportunities to raise Zhao Yinger's position in the future.

This is obviously another deliberate gesture of goodwill and appeasement.

Speaking of Zhao Ying'er, Emperor Deqing seemed to think of something, and suddenly asked, "The maid who has been serving Concubine Hui...... The woman named Zhang Zhaodi, do you know? What is her family background? Why did you stay by Concubine Hui's side to serve? ”

Hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, Zhao Junchen showed a trace of doubt and thought just right, and it seemed that he couldn't think of who Zhang Zhaodi was for the first time.

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Junchen shook his head and said, "This ...... When Concubine Hui had not yet entered the palace, the minister had seen that Zhang Zhaodi a few times, but she only remembered that she was a sensible and obedient woman, and her family background was not very good, so she became Concubine Hui's maid, but she was just a maid after all, and she was different from the minister, so the minister and her did not speak a few times, but they didn't know much about the details. ”

After a pause, Zhao Junchen asked with a puzzled expression: "If Your Majesty is curious about Zhang Zhaodi's life experience, why don't you ask her in person?" Naturally, she didn't dare to hide it! ”

After hearing this, a trace of helplessness flashed in Emperor Deqing's eyes.

Emperor Deqing superficially praised Zhao Yinger for how virtuous and virtuous she was, but in fact, Emperor Deqing had already had enough of Zhao Yinger's ridiculous cleverness and jealousy and shallow bad character, but because of the relationship between Zhao Yinger and Zhao Junchen, he deliberately tolerated it until now.

It can be said that if Zhao Junchen collapses today, Emperor Deqing will put Zhao Ying'er in the cold palace that night, and he will never endure it for a moment.

And Zhang Zhaodi next to Zhao Yinger is diametrically opposed to Zhao Yinger, her temperament, personality, appearance, etc. are all the types that Emperor Deqing likes, and it has also aroused the attention of Emperor Deqing, and he has always wanted to include Zhang Zhaodi in the palace, but unfortunately Zhao Yinger's temperament is too jealous, as long as Emperor Deqing pays a little attention to Zhang Zhaodi, Zhang Zhaodi will be abused by Zhao Yinger afterwards, which makes Emperor Deqing feel ashamed, and he has not been able to start, and his understanding of Zhang Zhaodi is far from enough.

It is precisely because of this that Emperor Deqing asked Zhao Junchen about this place today.

After thinking about it, Emperor Deqing only felt tired, and sighed slowly: "Women's Taoist people, it's still a little more pleasing." ”

Seeing that Zhao Junchen was puzzled again, Emperor Deqing didn't explain much, just nodded and said: "I'm tired, I won't keep you more, you go to the Hubu Yamen as soon as possible to sit in town and solve the matter of Caoyun!" Since you have already boasted about Haikou at the court meeting, the matter of Caoyun must be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise I will not be able to protect you. ”

And just as Zhao Junchen saluted and said goodbye and was about to retreat and leave, Emperor Deqing suddenly added: "By the way, I heard that you have been very close to the crown prince these days...... But you also understand that the abolition of the prince is related to the foundation of the imperial court, and it must be decided by me, and no one can interfere in this matter, so you had better not cause trouble to me...... Speaking of which, Lao Qi's condition has improved, and it is also because of the Zhang Shen Doctor in your house who has come to diagnose and treat, you and Lao Qi have this level of friendship, and they have always had a good relationship, so why bother to seek the near and far? When you returned to Beijing, I deliberately arranged for Lao Qi to meet you, what is it for, you should also think about it, don't let me down! ”

Hearing Emperor Deqing's vague warning, Zhao Junchen was slightly stunned, but still replied with a respectful attitude: "The minister understands!" ”

*

In the imperial study, after Zhao Junchen left, Emperor Deqing was thoughtful.

According to Emperor Deqing's original plan, when the crown prince Zhu Heyu was deposed in the future, Zhao Junchen should have played an important role in promoting it.

At that time, Zhao Junchen will attract the suspicion of hundreds of officials, the hostility of Qingliu, and the criticism of the government and the opposition, and his reputation, which has gradually reversed, will become disastrous again.

However, Zhao Junchen's failure to fall ill after returning to Beijing, as well as the sudden alliance between Zhao Junchen and the crown prince Zhu Heyu, completely disrupted Emperor Deqing's wishful thinking.

"Things have changed, but it's not necessarily bad! After the third child returns to the capital after dealing with the affairs of the vassal king, I will have a showdown with Zhao Junchen and ask him to help promote the dethronement! I don't believe it, Zhao Junchen will dare to disobey my will at that time? At that time, Zhao Junchen betrayed his alliance with the third child, and he will also be notorious again! This matter cannot be changed! ”

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On the other side, after Zhao Junchen left the imperial study, he also walked thoughtfully all the way outside the noon gate, planning to go to the household yamen to sit in town and deal with the affairs of Caoyun.

However, when Zhao Junchen was about to take the sedan chair, he found that Li Chengru was standing not far away, waiting for him with a complicated expression.

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