In the East Pavilion.

Zhang Siwei asked Dong Zhongshu: "What do you want to say to me if the Empress Dowager sent someone to come?"

Dong Zhongshu said: "The Empress Dowager passed a message saying that public opinion in the court and the country has been rampant recently, and there is a great momentum to use the Lu King's wedding to accuse Your Majesty. The Empress Dowager is worried that the court will change, and the ministers want to take the opportunity to make a living?"

Zhang Siwei heard this and thought for a while: "Tell the Empress Dowager that I told the Empress Dowager that I was not well-took for the Queen Mother's handling, which was really a dereliction of duty. However, it was inevitable that the government and the opposition would discuss it, but it did not hurt the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty's wiseness. Such false statements will do all our strength to comfort the Queen Mother and his majesty in order to repay the Queen Mother's kindness for his understanding. But the court is still under the control of the Queen Mother, please rest assured."

Dong Zhongshu said that he was about to go out, Zhang Siwei said again: "Slowly, I will write a letter by hand and explain it clearly."

After Zhang Siwei picked up the pen and wrote the letter, he asked Dong Zhongshu to hand it to the inner official.

Dong Zhongshu returned to Dongge soon and said, "Yuanfu, the letter has been sent and 500 taels are stuffed. The inner official said he would try his best to say good things about Yuanfu in front of the Empress Dowager."

Zhang Siwei nodded slowly.

Dong Zhongshu sneered: "Empress Dowager, Your Majesty finally understood that he should use the cabinet to suppress all officials, rather than using censors to curb the cabinet as before. But now he realized that he didn't understand it too late?"

Dong Zhongshu said something, he felt a sense of anger.

Zhang Siwei heard this and looked at the open Huangjimen Square by the window and Guijimen in the distance: "Jack Zhang just now said something to the bottom of Benfu's heart."

"What is the prime minister?"

"He said that the official should reach our position and have no power in his hands, which is no different from death."

When Dong Zhongshu heard this, he said, "This is even more reasonable. Therefore, if I don't kill anyone, I will kill me."

Zhang Siwei nodded slowly and asked, "Is there any letter from home?"

Dong Zhongshu said: "Zhang Shun just came back from his hometown. He said that the second master had already invited a famous doctor to treat the old master. It cost tens of thousands of taels of silver for the precious medicinal materials alone. However, the second master said that there is no disease that must be cured in the world, so please prepare early."

Zhang Siwei said: "It is necessary to prepare for the future. This auxiliary system must be twenty-seven months, and things in the court cannot be left."

Dong Zhongshu suggested: "If the prime minister adheres to the system, the court will definitely recommend the cabinet ministers, and the candidates for the cabinet ministers should not be ignored. In addition, the prime minister is not in the court for twenty-seven months, and the big and small matters must be entrusted to take care of the time."

At this time, he reported outside: "Prince, Li Zhi, Jiangdongzhi and the Kedao officials are looking for a visit outside."

When Zhang Siwei heard these names, he didn't want to pay attention.

Dong Zhongshu said: "Prince, they are your disciples at least, so it is better to meet them at first."

Jingren Palace.

Jingren Palace is one of the six eastern palaces and has always been a place for concubines in the harem. However, because Hu Shanxiang, the first empress of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming Dynasty, was deposed, he lived in this palace. Later, the concubines in the palace thought that this palace was unlucky and did not like to live in this palace.

Therefore, Jingren Palace was given to Concubine Wang Gong, who had just given birth to the eldest son of the emperor.

At present, the emperor was visiting the eldest son of the emperor in Jingren Palace, and Concubine Wang and the people in the palace were all serving the marquis with respect.

The emperor glanced at Concubine Gong beside him and frowned. He had only desire for Concubine Gong at the beginning, but had no love for him. After being lucky, Concubine Gong was asked to be pregnant with the imperial heir, so the emperor was forcibly asked by the empress dowager and officials to admit his identity as Concubine Gong.

This is of course a great loss of face for the emperor. Concubine Gong or his mother's maid will inevitably be called a lewd (未分类) by the rambler.

But now that the eldest son of the emperor was born and the whole country was celebrated, he had to accept Concubine Gong's identity. Even as the emperor, he had to condescend and try to accept Concubine Gong again.

But the emperor held the eldest son in his arms and looked at Concubine Gong beside him and felt bored.

This is bored, because Concubine Gong is low in status and has nothing to say to her on weekdays.

The second is that Concubine Gong and the concubines in the harem are always like this, and they are obedient to him on the face, but because of his identity as the emperor, they are always far away from him, even vigilant.

They thought about every word they said to the emperor several times, and were cautiously afraid of offending them, and lacked a lot of sincerity. Only the sincere and straightforward Concubine Zheng in the harem gave the emperor a unique feeling.

In fact, the emperor also laughed at himself. Not to mention concubines, but the ministers were the same. They were all loyal to the emperor and the country, and were selfless, but they were full of bad waters inside, trying to fight for the whole day.

The emperor handed over the eldest son to the palace maid on the side, but thought in his heart about the affairs of the court. Among the ministers, those who can truly consider the country and the country and do not relocate my joys and angers are probably the deceased Zhang Juzheng, Yan Qing, Hai Rui, and Lin Yanchao.

There may be other ministers, but I am not sure. Despite this, such ministers are really... sometimes they are too disrespectful to me.

The emperor sighed when he thought of this, and felt completely lost his interest, so he stood up immediately.

Seeing that the emperor was about to leave, Concubine Gong hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, won't you stay with me for food?"

The emperor waved his hand and said, "No, I still have to go to Concubine Zheng to sit."

Concubine Gong's expression of disappointment passed by, then she hugged the eldest son from the palace maid and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, Luo'er hasn't said goodbye to your father yet."

The emperor could see clearly that in the throne, he could see through people's hearts more easily than others, but he was also more easily deceived by others. However, Concubine Gong's little tricks could escape his eyes, but he still had a family affection for the eldest son of the emperor.

The emperor smiled at the eldest son and said, "I will come to see you mother and son again in a few days."

At this moment, Zhang Jing asked for a meeting.

The emperor asked as soon as he saw Zhang Jing, "How? Did Lin Yanchao write about Fubian?"

Zhang Jing immediately knelt in front of the emperor, presented a book and silk with both hands, but his head was pressed down: "Your Majesty, the servant is incompetent."

"This Lin Yanchao has repeatedly let down my kindness? Do he really want to learn from Hai Rui?" The emperor looked angry and took the book from Zhang Jing's hand. After glanced at it, he said in a dismay: "Is this a bloody advice?"

Zhang Jing kept kowtowing and repeatedly said, "Slaves are incompetent, and they deserve to die."

The emperor showed the blood letter and read it word by word. After reading it, he was about to speak, but he found that the voice was hoarse, as if something was swallowing in his throat, which made him unable to say a word.

The emperor took a while to recover and said, "Let him go. I will not give him another chance in the future."

Zhang Jing said: "Yes."

At this time, Concubine Wang Gong patted the eldest son of the emperor. The eldest son of the emperor suddenly started crying.

When the emperor heard the eldest son crying, he suddenly remembered that Lin Yanchao had made great contributions in supporting Concubine Gong and the eldest son, and he felt a little hesitant in his heart.

"Show your way! Zhang Jing will come with me." The emperor said.

Concubine Wang Gong and the palace maids quickly bowed and said, "I respectfully send you to Your Majesty."

The emperor was walking on the imperial road with the flying cloud chariot. On the road, the palace maids and eunuchs met the emperor's imperial guards and immediately knelt beside the road.

The emperor sat on the Feiyun Chariot and closed his eyes and pondered for a while, and then ordered Zhang Jing who was beside him: "Let the Beizhen Fushi no longer need to try Lin Yanchao again, so he would let down the emperor and despise the empress dowager and dismiss Lin Yanchao's post and his titles were removed from his post. However, the imperial edicts and the seals that had been granted to the Lin Mansion before were not taken away."

"During this period, the court and the people have had too much discussion about Lin Yanchao's memorial. This case was settled as soon as possible to block the mouths of those who are good at it. The most important thing is not to disturb the Queen Mother's mood on her birthday."

Zhang Jing said it, thinking in his heart about the emperor's treatment of Lin Yanchao.

Not to mention the dismissal of office, the removal of the official's status means removing the official's identity and becoming a commoner. This is a heavier punishment than demoting the official and living in a free life. However, the Lin Mansion's titles and gifts are retained, which shows that the emperor still has kindness to Lin Yanchao. This is not the best result, but it is not bad.

To achieve this result, Zhang Jing is worthy of the 10,000 taels of silver given to Lin Yanchao.

Zhang Jing hurriedly followed the emperor's Feiyunyan and said, "Your Majesty, judging from the spy on the East Factory in the past few days, the removal of Lin Yanchao's official position may not be enough to calm the public opinion of the government and the public."

The emperor frowned and said, "Why is it not enough for me to forgive Lin Yanchao for his death to calm the debate between the government and the people? Could it be that I should follow the actions of the late emperor to deal with Hai Rui and put Lin Yanchao in the imperial prison until the day I died?"

When the emperor said this, Zhang Jing was so scared that his steps were chaotic that he fell to the ground with a thud.

When the emperor saw this, he couldn't help laughing, patted the armrest of the Feiyun Chariot and said, "Look at you so scared, go to the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace to talk to me."

After arriving at the warm pavilion of Qianqing Palace, Zhang Jing served the emperor to change his clothes and put on swallow's clothes.

Zhang Jing carefully combed the emperor's hair, and the emperor said with satisfaction: "There are so many eunuchs in the palace, but you still know my heart the most."

Zhang Jing smiled and said, "I have no prospects for me, I only know how to serve Master Long Live."

The emperor smiled and said, "Don't say those beautiful words, what did you tell me about the East Factory spying on these few days?"

Zhang Jing carefully said: "Your Majesty, according to the suspicion from the Dongchang government offices, the officials in the court are now unfair about Lin Yanchao's affairs and keep pressuring the cabinet, which means to release Lin Yanchao. He secretly wants Your Majesty to reduce the cost of Lu Wang's wedding and stop liquidating...the traitor."

Zhang Jing glanced at the emperor's face.

Now the matter of Zhang Juzheng has become the rebellious scale in the emperor's heart.

The emperor had all kinds of feelings towards Zhang Juzheng, which was very complicated and difficult to describe in words. The emperor was respectful and afraid when he was young, and then fear, hatred, and guilt and mercy later.

Even the emperor doesn’t understand such a complicated relationship. Sometimes it means happiness, and sometimes it means anger.

The moodiness of Zhang Juzheng in matters made the people around the emperor afraid that they would accidentally touch the rebellious scales in the emperor's heart and cause a disaster.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng's name and his affairs must not be mentioned in front of the emperor.

This is different from Lin Yanchao. Zhang Jing understood that although the emperor was very angry with Lin Yanchao now, he still admired Lin Yanchao's backbone for maintaining the loyalty of Confucian ministers.

Otherwise, I would not have been choking and silent for a long time after seeing Lin Yanchao's bloody letter.

On the contrary, if Lin Yanchao really wrote about Fubian, although the emperor could calm down Lin Yanchao, he could not truly regard such ministers who could not stand on their position as equal status.

The emperor pondered for a while and said, "I remember that Lin Yanchao submitted a memorial and sent the memorial to the Tongzhengsi Department, and the copy was sent to the Huijimen Wenwen Library, and then the full text of the Yanjing Times was published. With his three-year term, the reputation of the current literary pride, and the running of students and colleagues, he wanted to conquer public opinion to make me submit."

"The so-called pen can defeat a million soldiers, and it is not the case. Now all officials and the people are on Lin Yanchao's side. What should I do?"

Zhang Jing said on the side: "Your Majesty, how much can Lin Yanchao have? Your Majesty is the supreme emperor. The hearts of the people are always on Your Majesty's side."

The emperor asked back, "Where is the Queen Mother?"

Zhang Jing was speechless for a moment, and then quickly remedyed: "The Empress Dowager is the Holy Mother. She is standing on His Majesty's side and on the Empress Dowager's side."

The emperor ignored Zhang Jing's words and asked back: "Since all officials opposed me, the Queen Mother, then did Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing also opposed me and the Queen Mother?"

Zhang Jing said: "As far as I know, the chief assistant and the second assistant are trying their best to appease all officials for His Majesty."

The emperor doubted, "Is that right? Zhang Siwei was forced to resign from the prime minister because I indulged the censors to suppress the power of the cabinet. Will he still be dissatisfied with me? Also, although Shen Shixing is my teacher, he is... a person promoted by..., and he should also hope that I will end the liquidation of the old party early."

Zhang Jing said: "It is precisely because of this that they dare not be dissatisfied with His Majesty."

"Don't just talk nonsense, tell me the truth."

Zhang Jing lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, I think that Zhang Puzhou's current position as the chief minister is unstable. If you do not try your best to appease all officials for Your Majesty, then Your Majesty can let Mr. Shen replace his position as the chief minister at any time."

"On the other hand, Master Shen is a minister of the old party. The current trend of suppressing Zhang Dang in the court has not yet passed. He will never dare to act rashly at this time, otherwise Zhang Puzhou will use this opportunity to kick him out of the cabinet at any time."

"It is precisely because the two are not in harmony that he can only gain the support of His Majesty to gain a foothold in the cabinet."

To control each other by checks and balances is the emperor's mind. The disagreement between the chief assistant and the second assistant is what the emperor likes to hear. If the two of them have the same mind, the emperor will have a headache.

The emperor nodded, but hesitated, "But what if the two of them were secretly venting in advance?"

Zhang Jing smiled and said, "That won't be. Zhang Siwei was in charge of the liquidation of Feng Bao, and now he will not turn around to Zhang Mu for the old party. What's more, Zhang Puzhou is the Empress Dowager and a fellow villager of Wuqing Hou. At least he will not oppose the Empress Dowager in the wedding of King Lu."

As soon as Zhang Jing finished speaking, he immediately regretted it. He peeked at the emperor's face and was really unhappy.

Zhang Jing had a cold sweat on his forehead and his body trembled slightly, but the emperor smiled and said, "The cabinet has the responsibility to rule all officials. Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing did a good job in this matter. He passed on my decree to reward the three ministers with gold, silver, silk and satin to thank them for their hard work."

Zhang Jing's vest was soaked and he immediately called it.

The emperor said again: "But it is not enough to rely solely on the three ministers to appease all officials. You Jinyiwei and Dongchang are also watching for me, so that the ministers should not cause trouble. The last time the scholar knocked at Donghua Gate, it should not be repeated. In addition, let the Beizhen Fushi Office close the case as soon as possible, so that the public opinion will naturally calm down."
Chapter completed!