Chapter 222 Answering questions from ministers on behalf of the king

Author: Silent

Chapter 222 Answering questions from ministers on behalf of the king

Zhang Zhou wanted to entertain the women and children of Zhu Youtang's family.

After it got dark in the afternoon, he followed Zhu Youtang back to Qianqing Palace. At this time, Zhu Youtang drank two glasses of wine, his face was rosy and a little drunk, but Dai Yi asked Dai Yi to take out a bunch of memorials that he was embarrassed to take out before. , showed it to Zhang Zhou.

"Bingkuan, I don't even want to mention this to you. There have been a lot of troops deployed on the Nine Sides in the past two months, but most of them are based on my intention. People in the court who don't understand what they mean will come up one after another to question it, which is very annoying. Take a look."

Then he asked Dai Yi to take several copies of the memorial to Zhang Zhou.

In fact, Zhang Zhou probably knew it even if he didn't read it.

From the use of troops at Piantou Pass to the current use of troops in Liaodong, the emperor made his own decisions after listening to his opinions. The strategy of sending troops had almost nothing to do with the courtiers. Civil officials felt that the emperor repeatedly skipped the court to do things, regardless of the emperor's affairs. If he was right or wrong, they would raise questions and advise the emperor to correct his mentality and listen carefully to the opinions of ministers, etc.

The use of troops at Piianguan and the use of troops at Ningyuan in Liaodong were also "biased".

The Piantou Pass was bombed to a pulp by Wang Yue, and Ning Yuan was the emperor who sent three highly controversial people in the army to lead the troops, or to prepare for the three Duoyan Guards to take the initiative to attack... No matter how you look at it, this is not a normal deployment of troops.

Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, it was me who caused all this and caused trouble for Your Majesty."

Zhu Youtang took advantage of the wine and sat down on the chair very relaxedly. He waved his hands and said, "This has nothing to do with you. You have always been doing it for me and the Ming Dynasty. You have not made any mistakes. Why should you admit your mistakes to me?"

Dai Yi smiled and said: "Yes, Mr. Zhang, those officials are not familiar with the world. So far, your proposal has made all the towns on the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty safe, and the soldiers are united."

Yeah?

Zhang Zhou almost wanted to say that he had forgotten that after the battle at Piantou Pass, Dayan Khan and the three guards of Duoyan still dared to invade the country and plunder people and animals, right?

"Your Majesty, if the ministers have any opinions on this matter, you may wish to let me face it and answer their questions. I am willing to share your worries for your majesty."

Zhang Zhou couldn't help but be interested.

Since the emperor mentioned this matter to him, the emperor wanted to let him make suggestions.

In fact, it is very simple to solve this kind of thing, that is, find a "knowledgeable" person to explain to the ministers. Regardless of whether the theory proposed by the knowledgeable person can be accepted by those ministers, at least on the matter of shifting conflicts. , the effect is very significant.

Now those ministers are targeting the "willful" emperor. If Zhang Zhou goes out to argue with the ministers, the ministers will definitely target him.

Zhu Youtang said: "Bingkuan, don't get me wrong. I have no intention of asking you to answer questions for those ministers, and no matter what you say, they won't listen."

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "It depends on people. If all this is caused by me, and I can't avoid it, they will feel that your majesty is shielding me, and their attitude towards me will be even worse. Didn't your majesty also say that you want to Will you serve as an official well in the future?"

You, as the emperor, have not hidden my existence as a minister. Even if those ministers are targeting you now, don't they know that I am making suggestions behind the scenes?

You also said that you would help me become an official. Your partial attitude towards me is the biggest "resistance" to my career advancement.

Of course, this resistance is only relative to the attitude of those civil servants. To put it another way, fools don't want the emperor's absolute trust.

No matter what those civil servants think, what those civil servants mean is that any civil servant who comes forward will be suppressed regardless of whether he is right or wrong, and everything must be according to their rules of seniority. If I follow their standards, I will not be able to stay in the officialdom for twenty or thirty years. , don’t even think about becoming the pillar of Ming Dynasty.

Playing with Wenchen?

joke.

It is unthinkable that someone whom the emperor and prince absolutely trust would play with those civil servants.

Dai Yi saw Zhu Youtang's hesitation and said, "Your Majesty, I also think Mr. Zhang's words are reasonable. Why not...let him try it?"

After Zhu Youtang thought about it, he reluctantly nodded and said: "Well, come to the palace early tomorrow morning and talk to them about this matter. Don't worry, if they make things difficult for you, I won't sit back and ignore it."

…

…

Zhang Zhou felt that he was going to have a verbal battle with the Confucian scholars.

As a new scholar, this is not the first time he has argued with ministers in court. But before, he only defended himself who was involved in the vend case. It was not a head-on confrontation with the ministers. But this time it was different. He wanted to go directly to the court. The ministers debated the use of troops in the northwest, Liaodong and other places.

The challenge is still very high.

When she got home that night, Jiang Pingyu was still teaching two new maids how to do things. The two new maids were named Autumnal Equinox and Winter Solstice.

After gathering all the spring, summer, autumn and winter together, plus the two maids brought over by Wang Mingshan, there are already six working women in Zhang Zhou's house. Plus the nursing home and other things, the population is close to twenty The number of people is large, and this does not include the guards who help guard the home and care for the home at night.

"Master, have you been drinking?" Jiang Pingyu took Zhang Zhou's coat and felt the smell of alcohol.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "After I won the first prize, I had a lot of entertainment. There was a favor banquet during the day, and in the afternoon I went to the palace to accompany His Majesty. The Empress and the Empress Dowager just had a few drinks and were not drunk at all."

Do you think everyone is like your father, a drunkard?

Old Man Jiang is a little inferior when drinking with me, but he can knock down anyone outside. Why does this guy like to come and drink with me? It’s not because it’s the first time he feels that those who fought against him in the past are facing defeat. Pressure on him?

"Go to bed early, I have to go to the palace early tomorrow morning." Zhang Zhou said, "His Majesty also gave me a court dress, a sixth-grade historian, and I will be an official in the Hanlin Academy from now on."

Jiang Pingyu said happily: "Then the master will officially become an official? This is called a big Dengke. Didn't the master say that I will also have a small Dengke? I have taught the Wang sister a lot of things in the past two days. She is already in the room tonight. Waiting for you."

"this……"

Only then did Zhang Zhou remember that he had previously mentioned that he would be admitted to the imperial examination at a high level and then at a small level.

But I am busy with so many things today, how can I remember? Besides, I have to go to the palace early tomorrow morning to argue with the scholars. If I stay busy until very late tonight, I will not sleep well and will not be energetic tomorrow morning. What should I do if I can’t follow my ideas and misfire?

"Oh, madam, you are also very strange, why do you push your husband to someone else's embroidered couch?" Zhang Zhou said with emotion.

Jiang Pingyu's eyes widened.

Did her husband change gender today? Why would she ask her about such a thing?

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Today is too tiring, so let's put it to tomorrow. Tomorrow...should be convenient for her, right?"

"It should be, there is no problem. The master should come back early tomorrow." Jiang Pingyu ordered.

"Well, I'll be back as soon as I'm done. I'll try to be back by noon. I won't go anywhere until the morning of the day after tomorrow. How can I do things like gymnastics if I don't work hard and do it quickly?"

Zhang Zhou suddenly felt confident again.

Although I can't do anything too strenuous tonight, I still want to have a good sleep with my wife in my arms. The high bed, soft pillow, warm fragrance, and full of enjoyment are simply unworthy of traveling through time.

…

…

Early the next morning.

Zhang Zhou put on his new court clothes and took Wang Mingshan out.

Wang Mingshan didn't mind at all about being let off by Zhang Zhou last night. Even if Jiang Pingyu and Han Qing gave her some advice recently, she didn't understand what impact it would have on her life.

Isn't it just sleeping?

Where to sleep is not sleep? How to sleep is not sleep?

They were all sent to the Zhang family by their grandfather and father. Is it more tiring to rest on the embroidered couch than to follow Zhang Zhou every day?

Inside the palace.

In front of the Fengtian Palace, the ministers entered the palace early. Originally, they did not know what would happen in the court hall today, but when they saw Zhang Zhou arriving under the guidance of Xiao Jing, and Zhang Zhou was wearing a suit, they should have waited for two days.

The official uniform will be given only in the future.

Some of them seemed to realize that today's court meeting would not be too simple.

"Bingkuan, we meet again!"

Zhang Zhou stood alone among the civil servants. Civil servants who could come to Fengtian Palace to discuss matters would intentionally keep a distance from him.

But Wu Xun's side had no taboos, and Zhang Mao even warmly welcomed Zhang Zhou to Wu Xun's side, and also introduced several Xun officials around him.

"Bingkuan is a talented person. The number one scholar in the Ming Dynasty, the third-level scholar, will definitely become a general or a general in the future. Look how decent this official uniform is. It is really worthy of your majestic appearance, Bingkuan..."

Zhang Mao didn't blush at all when he praised people.

Wu Xun, on the other hand, seemed to think that what Zhang Mao said made sense, and he seemed to be nodding his head, or even saying a few words of compliment, which made the civil servants not far away feel uncomfortable hearing this.

The sand in our eyes is like gold bumps on Wu Xun's side?

…

…

The court meeting begins.

As expected, Zhang Zhou still stood at the bottom of the list of civil servants, standing together with several members of the Sixth Section.

The content discussed at the beginning of the court meeting involved the royal palaces in various places, natural and man-made disasters, as well as local reports about bandits and plunder, etc. The thorny matters of the six departments were put into the second step. As for Zhang Zhou, he just stood up

Listen in the back, if he is not called, the matter has nothing to do with him, and there is no need for him to come out and add any opinions.

The meeting passed the middle stage.

Zhu Youtang personally raised the issue of the use of troops on the nine sides.

"...At the end of the first month of the year, I asked Wang Weining to prepare for the war at Pianguan. In February, during the battle at Pianguan, the Diyi invasions had begun to subside. However, after entering March, the Duoyan Three Guards and the Tatars

The little prince still does not think about his duties as a minister, and there have been successive acts of banditry to disturb the people. In the past two months, I have made many deployments and deployments of defenses in various places on the nine borders, and you have many questions..."

The ministers present said to themselves that there is no need for you, Your Majesty, to summarize it for us.

As long as you say that you will listen to us and follow our rules from now on, then no one will question you.

You listen to us, but we still question it, does that mean we question ourselves?
To be continued...