In this large flower hall, everyone sat separately according to the guest of honor.

Lin Haoran was the owner of this house, and he was the first on the gold list that year, and he was the third-rank Shuntian Prefecture Yin. Naturally, he sat on the main seat without any hesitation.

Yang Futian and others sat according to the ranking. Zhang Wei was originally eligible to sit in the second seat, but he refused directly and still chose to sit in the seat that originally belonged to him.

When the conversation got down to business, everyone stopped their chopsticks one after another, either listening carefully or participating in the discussion.

"Brother Xingde, as long as I, Lin Ruoyu, don't fall down, I will definitely cleanse these maggots one day!"

These words were spoken with righteousness and righteousness. Although these were what Lin Haoran said to Sun Zhengang, these words also fell into the hearts of everyone and even aroused a kind of resonance.

In the current court, Lin Haoran is undoubtedly an official who really wants to do practical things, unlike those officials who are bent on pursuing personal gain.

"Senior brother, I know that if we compromise, the price of salt in Huguang will be lower, but how can we, the scholars, sit back and watch those salt merchants harm the country and the people? Although I am humble in my position, I will give my full support to my senior brother and help him eliminate the evils of the government.

." Sun Zhengang had already seen the salt policy issue thoroughly and seemed to respond sincerely.

Xiao Jinian and others were also full of righteousness. They exchanged glances with each other first, and then echoed without hesitation: "We are willing to help senior brother get rid of the imperial malpractice!"

In the current Ming Dynasty, it has become a common practice that non-Hanlin officials cannot join the cabinet. Among them, only Lin Haoran still has the opportunity to join the cabinet, and the others are at best officials and ministers.

If he just wants to truly accomplish a great cause and eliminate the salt policy and other ills, this burden may only fall on Lin Haoran's shoulders, and it will be up to him to complete this feat that benefits the country and the people.

Lin Haoran is only twenty-one years old. He is a real Hanlin Academy graduate. He is now the third-rank official of Shuntian Prefecture. He also initiated the opening of sea and salt administration. All these things have already proved that he is the natural choice.

person.

"There are many ills in the Ming Dynasty. It is not easy to eliminate the salt ills. It is even harder to eliminate all the ills in the court. In the future, if you can help us, we can work together to overcome the difficulties. I believe that we, the Wuwu scientists, will eventually be able to do something

It is something that will benefit the country and the people." Lin Haoran faced the eager eyes of everyone in the same year and responded with his hands.

Rectifying the salt policy is naturally not an easy task, and it cannot be easily accomplished by him alone.

In the past, Liu Jin had all the power in the government, but when he promoted the rectification of the army, he was met with crazy backlash from vested groups. The Lianghuai salt merchants and the forces behind them were not weak, and now they were collaborating with the chief minister Xu Jiehang. This

It will be a protracted struggle.

Although they have achieved a small victory this time, they are still far from achieving the goal of rectifying the salt policy. Therefore, they must not only beware of counterattacks by the Xu Party or the Lianghuai Salt Industry, but also work closely together.

Lin Haoran clearly remembers a saying from his previous life: whether a group has combat effectiveness, it must not only have interests connected, but also need to have a common goal.

If such a group can be formed, some group members will be willing to sacrifice themselves for the goal, and they will think that their sacrifice is worth it until they die.

He had just comforted Sun Zhengang, and now he said these "heartfelt" words, not only to win people's hearts, but also to set a clearer goal for everyone.

Lin Haoran held up the wine glass high and said loudly while the iron was hot: "The road is long and long, and I will explore it up and down. Come, let's have a drink together and make it our mission to eradicate the evils of the government!"

"Take it as your duty to eradicate the evils of the government!"

The eyes of Xiao Jinian and others shone brightly, they raised their wine glasses high and echoed loudly.

But no matter what happens in the future, they have united more closely at this moment. When the wine glasses collided, they had a clearer goal of struggle, and they became more and more like like-minded comrades.

Most of the officials in the Ming Dynasty came from the imperial examination. Because they were educated by the sages, they were essentially scholars with ideals and ambitions at the beginning, and they all wanted to do some practical things for the country.

But when they officially enter the officialdom, this dream will be shattered. They will soon face a cruel choice, either to stay away from the heart of power, or to join in the evil.

For example, Yan Song, who was regarded as a traitor by later generations, returned to Fenyi and stayed there for ten years after seeing the dark side of the officialdom. Xu Jie even contradicted Zhang Cong because of his youth and arrogance, and resigned from the prestigious Hanlin editorship.

Zhang Juzheng, a small promotion official, once escaped from officialdom and traveled around for more than three years.

Xiao Jinian and others are naturally passionate scholars, and they were lucky enough to meet a good teacher Wu Shan, so they can still maintain some enthusiasm. Now Lin Haoran came out of the blue and successfully awakened their original pursuit and gave them

They listed a common goal.

The atmosphere of the banquet was good. After drinking, everyone seemed to be in high spirits.

Long Chizhong is a very rational person. After the waiter slowly calmed down, he clearly pointed out the situation and said: "After such a commotion, Party Xu will probably regard us as a thorn in their side!"

The reason why he said this was naturally not to back off, but to point out the severe situation they were currently facing, so that everyone could discuss ways to overcome this difficulty.

"Afraid of birds! The soldiers will stop you, and the water will cover you with the soil!" Sun Zhengang put down his wine glass and said loudly, seemingly unconcerned.

Mo Fei never spoke much, so he said nonchalantly: "We are not popular with them in the first place!"

"After going full circle, let's go back to the issue of Beijing inspection next year!" Yang Futian saw everyone's thoughts and thought it was just a clue.

Although they won a small victory in this battle over the salt policy, it did not substantially improve their situation. Especially as next year's capital inspection gets closer and closer, their situation will get worse and worse.

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at Lin Haoran again. Lin Haoran had become the absolute leader of this group.

Long Chizhong seemed a little anxious and asked directly to Lin Haoran who was drinking: "Brother, you met Li Chunfang a few days ago, right? What do you think of Li Chunfang?"

After being prompted by Zhou Youqing, the head of the Ministry of Personnel, Lin Haoran took the opportunity to attend the wedding banquet and cleverly bumped into Li Chunfang, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Lin Haoran put down the wine glass, shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Shilang Li and I did meet, but it was a public place after all, and the time was somewhat sensitive, so we didn't talk about anything substantive." He paused.

After a pause, he looked at everyone again and continued: "I think Shilang Li is a decent official, and he seems to be very interested in opening up the sea. I will officially visit his house in the near future!"

When Yang Futian heard these words, he nodded seriously.

Although the current situation is very bad, they are not completely without a chance of winning. In particular, although Xu Jie is the first assistant, after all, he is not Yan Song who has won the favor of the Holy One. He cannot cover the sky with one hand yet.

"Teacher, are you really going to give up the position of Hanlin bachelor to Yan Ne?" Zhou Youqing asked curiously after eating a fennel bean.

There were too many people in Longchi who didn't know anything about it, and they all looked at Lin Haoran.

"Not bad!" Lin Haoran nodded calmly.

"This is clearly an attempt to take away "Talking About the Past and the Present", which is too bullying!" Sun Zhengang frowned and immediately accused him.

"The teacher is a minister of the Ministry of Finance and a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. There is indeed something to be criticized for!" Long Chizhong said in a fair tone.

"What kind of criticism? It's obviously because he wants to be the editor-in-chief of "Talking About the Past and the Present"!" Sun Zhengang picked up his wine glass and accused angrily, then looked at Lin Haoran expectantly and said: "Brother, can we fight over this matter?"

"This matter cannot be disputed. The power of "Talking About the Ancient and the Present" is too great, and Xu Jie cannot allow us to keep it in our hands!" Lin Haoran shook his head with certainty, and looked at the frustrated expressions on the faces of Sun Zhengang and others, and immediately

He said with confidence: "You don't need to worry too much! I will not let you be passively beaten all the time, let alone not prepare for next year. Although I may not be able to succeed, I will definitely try my best to find a way for everyone.

Good way to go!”

After these days of getting along, everyone has become more and more confident in Lin Haoran. Not only his intelligence, but also his judgment of the current situation, he is an extremely mature politician.

Listening to Lin Haoran's plan, Xiao Jinian and others nodded. To put it another way, even if they were really released, as long as Lin Haoran could stay in the court, they could still return to the court.

After all, they chose to take a difficult path, and many of them were determined to "suffer".

When the afternoon came, Yang Futian and others all chose to leave and meet again on the next holiday.

Lin Haoran followed the usual routine and sent everyone to the door, and watched them leave in a carriage. Just watching the last carriage disappear at the entrance of the alley, he let out a long sigh.

Being in this court, I obviously don't do much, but I feel a hundred times more tired than being the prefect of Leizhou or Guangzhou. I have begun to understand why Wu Shan always has such a bitter look on his face.

He was about to return to the house when he saw Huniu walking into the alley, followed by Ali, Aunt Shen and others. Looking at Huniu's nervous look, it seemed that he had found another treasure.

Since the last time she came back from the palace, Huniu seemed to have changed into a new person. She actually started to hunt for treasures in the capital. And every time she got a treasure, she generously presented it to Jiajing, and she was already a little celebrity.

During the remaining days of July, the court seemed very quiet.

The struggle over the salt policy, whether the two sides are unwilling or angry, has come to an end for the time being. Dong Wei, the left deputy censor, went to Huainan to rectify the salt policy, and everything had to wait until the results were announced.

Of course, calmness will always only belong to the surface, but underneath there will always be turbulent undercurrents.

On his way back home, Yan Song wrote letters to Jiajing from time to time, not knowing whether he was unwilling to accept failure or because he really missed Jiajing deeply.

After Jiajing received these letters, he could not help but recall the past. Even though Yan Song had done all kinds of bad things before, now that Yan Song had returned home, he naturally had to think of all the good things Yan Song had done in the past.

Jiajing and Yan Song had a relationship between monarch and minister for more than 20 years, and Yan Song almost lived in Xiyuan. The two of them were more than monarchs and ministers, and were more like a pair of old friends for many years.

Likewise, Jiajing generously gave some gifts to Yan Song and even replied to him with a handwritten letter.

After the Yan Party learned of these things, voices in the capital called for Yan Song's return began to appear, frequently criticizing the current ills of the government, and they almost directly accused Xu Jie of being incompetent.

But it's not surprising that Yan Dang was suddenly so excited and even put forward such an unbelievable suggestion. In fact, there is a precedent for this kind of thing.

In the Jiajing Dynasty, it was not unimaginable for the chief minister to return to the throne after resigning. The former chief ministers, Zhang Cong and Xia Yan, both resigned and returned.

Yan Song had gone through this kind of torture in the past. After taking over Xia Yan's position, he thought he would become the supreme chief minister of the Ming Dynasty. Not long after, Jiajing suddenly changed his mind and called Xia Yan back. Yan Song had to give up in frustration.

The position of chief assistant.

Now the Yan Party is facing the liquidation of Xu Jie. Some well-informed people know that the Xu Party is collecting evidence of their crimes and intends to find the right time to catch them all.

It is for this reason that members of the Yan Party, whether it is to repay the kindness of Yan Song for supporting him in the past, or just to protect themselves, they need to call on Yan Song to return to the court.

The Yan Party's influence in the court has long been deeply rooted. Even after a round of purges by Xu Jie, it still retains a power that cannot be underestimated, so the voice of appeal is not weak.

What was surprising was that the effect was far from what they expected, and there was not even the slightest reaction from the palace.

In this matter, Xu Jie's side as a shrewd politician was reflected.

When Xu Jie took office, he directly decentralized power and suggested that the emperor open up more channels for speech, thus using practical actions to win over the important ministers and many public officials in the court.

After taking office, he was not in a hurry to introduce measures, so he did not find fault with others. He even rectified the salt policy "in compliance with public opinion" and has been regarded by many as a wise prime minister.

Now, those who don’t want the Yan Party to come back are not just Xu Jie, but also important court officials who are not the Yan Party and the officials who control the way of speech.

In this environment, Party Yan's voice is destined to be drowned by the crowd. And they may have selectively forgotten that Yan Shifan has already confirmed his identity as the guilty minister, and Yan Song has the reputation of "doting on Yan Zi", so why not

Can you come back easily?

After all, this farce did not break out. Yan Dang's spirit had come to an end, and the entire court seemed very harmonious.

Wu Shan was not keen on party strife. As the summer grain was shipped to the capital one after another, he also carried out his job conscientiously, focusing all his energy on the affairs of the Hubu Yamen.
Chapter completed!