Huang Li glanced at Zhang Ruitu quietly, and then said gently: "If you think it's inconvenient to say, it's better to put it first, and it's not too late to wait for the right time in the future." ”

Hearing the polite refusal in Huang Liji's words, Zhang Ruitu said bluntly: "Actually, what I want to say is about how the cabinet will act in the future. ”

What do you mean by that? Have you heard any rumors that are not good for the Cabinet? Huang Liji, who had just heard the news of the Ming army's defeat of the Chahar Department and felt relieved, suddenly became a little vigilant.

Zhang Ruitu hurriedly waved his hand and denied: "That's not the case, my brother Fan thinks too much." I want to ask my brother Fan, is the situation in Daming different now compared to the same year ago? ”

Hearing this question, Huang Liji looked at Zhang Ruitu quite strangely and said: "The eldest prince asked a strange question, the situation in Daming now is naturally very different from a year ago, and it is still developing for the better, what are you worried about?" ”

Zhang Ruitu suddenly said cautiously: "Yes, the first emperor died suddenly last year, my Ming Dynasty can be said to have internal party disputes, external strong enemies peeping, but the treasury is still poor, and several of our ministers have a sense of unsustainability."

Unexpectedly, after ascending the throne today, God blessed me with the Ming Dynasty, first reached a peace agreement with Houjin, surrendered the southeast pirates, and now defeated the Mongolian Chahar Department that moved west. Even the lack of treasury, which was the most troublesome problem for the imperial court, is now barely able to turn over because of the purchase of public bonds by three banks.

It stands to reason that now except for the disaster relief in Shaanxi and the Tusi rebellion in the southwest, the situation in my Ming Dynasty has finally stabilized. I'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

However, I have been thinking about it for a long time these days, and I always feel a little uneasy, so I said to my brother Fan. ”

"What exactly do you want to say, please say it directly, don't be so rambling." Huang Liji finally got a little impatient.

Looking at Huang Liji's appearance, Zhang Ruitu had to say softly: "King Fu." ”

"What's wrong with King Fu?" Huang Liji subconsciously raised his voice and questioned, but soon he realized that something was wrong, and then nervously lowered his voice and asked, "What's wrong with King Fu?" But someone wants to collude with King Fu to make trouble? ”

Zhang Ruitu said helplessly: "Now it is rumored among some officials outside that it is said that leaving King Fu in the capital in violation of regulations is that some people want to follow the example of Emperor Yingzong and copy the change of seizing the door..."

"Ridiculous, you can say this nonsense. This is someone who is creating rumors in the capital, intending to make profits from it, we should report to Your Majesty as soon as possible, the whole city, find out this person's guilt, and quell the rumors. Huang Li stood up violently and said with some anger.

Zhang Ruitu hurriedly stopped in front of him and said, "My brother Fan can't, it may not be a good thing to report this matter to Your Majesty." ”

Huang Liji looked at him a little strangely and said, "Why is this?" ”

Zhang Ruitu looked at him and said: "Among these rumors, you and I are the ones who colluded with King Fu to plot chaos. If His Majesty is allowed to order someone to investigate it, the person who fabricated the rumor may not be caught, but the people involved in this rumor will definitely reach His Majesty's ears.

In the past, Emperor Shenzong originally intended King Fu to inherit the throne, although we didn't mean this, but who can guarantee that King Fu has given up on the throne.

If the rumors are traced and it is confirmed that King Fu is indeed restless, then it will be difficult to wash away the suspicions on our bodies. ”

Huang Liji walked back and forth in front of his seat anxiously, frowning and thinking about this sudden news.

Seeing that he was difficult to decide, Zhang Ruitu couldn't help but continue: "Actually, I have some hunch about this matter, it must be the ghosts of those Donglin Party members. ”

Huang Liji stopped, looked at him sideways and asked, "What do you say?" ”

Zhang Ruitu said with confidence: "When His Majesty passed the throne to Emperor Taichang, the Donglin Party made a fuss, saying that they upheld the right path and maintained the Taoism of the Ming Dynasty, and everyone in the world knew about it.

The Donglin Party has always prided themselves as righteous men and gentlemen, but how can they be willing to support King Fu and slap themselves in the mouth today? Besides, King Fu has always been haunted by the events of that year, and he refused to have any dealings with the Donglin party. Naturally, there will be no collusion between the two sides.

In this way, when this rumor broke out in the capital, the Donglin Party naturally cleared themselves without proof. Except for the Donglin Party, all the officials in the DPRK and China are suspicious. If Your Majesty had been deceived by rumors for a moment, wouldn't we have suffered unjustified calamities? ”

Seeing that Zhang Ruitu didn't seem to have anything to say, Huang Liji suddenly said to him: "Changgong seems to have some ideas in his heart, why don't you say it and let me also refer to it?" ”

Zhang Ruitu glanced at Huang Liji slightly, and then said cautiously: "Yu thinks that it is better to solve this matter from the root." As long as King Fu leaves the capital, this rumor will be self-defeating.

In addition, the reason why this rumor can spread is that there is no queen in the sect, and if a certain lady in the palace spreads the good news, it will also stop the Fu King and the feudal lords from thinking that they should not have.

Yu thought that although the first emperor and His Majesty had a deep brotherhood, according to the etiquette system, they only needed to serve Qi for one year.

Now that the one-year filial piety period has passed, we should write to His Majesty to recruit concubines and concubines, so as to consolidate the country. Don't let the story of Zhengde repeat itself today, so as to avoid making the world turbulent. ”

Huang Liji listened to it for a long time, and finally understood that Zhang Ruitu was not just here to talk about letting King Fu out of Beijing today. What he still wants to do is to let Chongzhen, who did things out of the way after ascending the throne, stay in the Forbidden City and obediently give birth to children, and don't become the second absurd Zhengde Emperor.

He suddenly felt a little disappreciative in his heart, how could Emperor Zhengde compare with the current Chongzhen.

Although Emperor Zhengde seems absurd, he regards etiquette as nothing. But in the end, he was bound by the etiquette and the law, and his nonsense behavior during his lifetime did not change any of the rules of the Ming Dynasty.

But now, this majesty has never taken etiquette to heart since he ascended the throne. Although at certain moments he acted in accordance with the rules of the law of etiquette, he never expressed impatience.

And where no one could see it, he did not hesitate to rewrite the constitution to replace the cumbersome etiquette. Those who dared to insist on the ancestral system in front of His Majesty in the palace, but could not give a reason, were all driven out of the capital.

In Huang Liji's view, Chongzhen not only doesn't pay attention to etiquette, he simply despises these ancestral systems and etiquette from the bottom of his heart.

Huang Liji knew very well that if he raised this opinion to Chongzhen, he would really be suspicious of the emperor.

The power he has now is big enough, and his age is not far from Zhishi, so there is really no need to confine Chongzhen to the palace city, so that Chongzhen suspects that he has the idea of usurping power.

In the past, the affairs of the imperial court depended entirely on the emperor alone, whether it was the inner court or the cabinet, they were all assistants to assist the emperor in doing things.

Therefore, if the emperor was not in his throne, the Ming court would not be able to function normally. Therefore, the civil official group of the Ming Dynasty, from top to bottom, opposed the emperor running away from the palace.

But now, after the reform of the bureaucratic system, except for some cross-departmental matters, other things have become cabinet decisions and the emperor's supervision model.

If he asks Chongzhen to sit in the palace again, it is equivalent to isolating China and foreign countries, and wants to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes. Not to mention whether the emperor will fight back, those Qingliu and Donglin party members who already look at him unpleasantly will definitely use this excuse to attack him.

For Huang Liji, who is already a very popular minister, there is really no need to take his posthumous name and family as a bet, just to maintain the tradition of a court.

If he really wanted to maintain the traditions of the imperial court, he would not have listened to Chongzhen's proposal from the beginning and promoted the cabinet reform.

In just a moment, Huang Liji figured out a clue, he straightened his color and said to Zhang Ruitu: "Changgong is really the words of Lao Cheng to seek the country, Yu Shen thinks so." If the good news can be transmitted as soon as possible, then the hearts of the people in the world will be able to settle down as soon as possible.

However, what the eldest prince said is also inappropriate, this gossip in the capital can reach your ears and mine, won't it reach your majesty's ears?

Even if this rumor involves you and me, there will naturally be His Majesty's holy judgment, how can you pretend to be deaf and dumb, and pretend not to know. If someone else had brought this to His Majesty's ears, wouldn't it be more difficult for you and me to confess? ”

Zhang Ruitu's eyes flickered for a while, and then he bowed his head slightly and said: "What my brother Fan said is right, but I have a wrong idea, so why don't you and I jointly report this matter to Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty to order the investigation of this matter?" ”

"No, if you make a big fuss, wouldn't you make this rumor public. At that time, even if His Majesty doesn't believe it, but under the clouds, King Fu will inevitably make mistakes, so how should the people involved in the rumors deal with themselves?

Besides, King Fu is His Majesty's elder after all. Even if King Fu really has some illegal things, His Majesty disposes of King Fu according to the law, and spreading it will damage His Majesty's reputation.

This matter is still presented to His Majesty in person, and it should not be left to words. It would be great if you could deal with this matter quietly. Huang Liji said slowly.

Zhang Ruitu bowed to him and said, "Since this is the case, this matter will be handled by my brother Fan, and I will just wait." ”

After a while, Zhang Ruitu left Huang Liji's room. And Huang Liji turned around the room a few times with his hand, thought about some things clearly, and then left the room and walked towards the back of the Wenhua Palace.

Just finished processing a stack of documents on the desk, was sipping a hot tea, tasting the freshly baked pastries, and was relaxing, Zhu Youzhen, who was relaxing, heard Huang Liji's request to see.

"Please Mr. Huang come in, and get another pot of hot tea and pastries. I had afternoon tea with Mr. Huang. Zhu Youzhen put down the pastries in his hand in a good mood and instructed Lu Qi.

When Huang Liji walked into the upper study, he saw Chongzhen standing behind the desk waiting for him, and he hurriedly curtsied to the emperor.

"No need to be polite, Mr. Huang come and sit, this is the jujube paste soft cake that has just been steamed out of the palace dining room, you can try it..."Zhu Youzhen greeted warmly.