Prime Minister

Chapter 478
Faced with Lu Hui's words, Zhang Yue was puzzled. How could this be related to Empress Gao?
Seeing that Zhang Yue was confused, Lu Hui smiled and stopped talking. He seemed to stop talking, and would never say anything more.

Zhang Yue thought to himself playing riddles with himself one by one, making himself, the person involved, seem to be the last person to know.

Zhang Yue was about to leave the palace to ask again, but unexpectedly two attendants stopped Zhang Yue.

Zhang Yue was vigilant at 12 points. He was a little psychologically shadowed by Ren Shouzhong's incident last time, and he couldn't help being suspicious when he saw the servant coming.

"Zhang Taichang even dared to offend Yan Xiangjian to remonstrate with the emperor, so why would you be afraid to go with me?"

Seeing that it was Zhang Maoze, Zhang Yue couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "So it's Zhang Duzhi."

Zhang Mao waved his hand to signal the two little Huangmen to retreat, and then said to Zhang Yue: "These two have been with me for decades, and they will never say a word."

Zhang Yue said: "We all know the way to control your subordinates, and I admire you."

"Let's go!"

Immediately, Zhang Mao accompanied Zhang Yue to a small hall. This is the Rouyi Hall where Empress Dowager Cao used to listen to politics behind a curtain.

But seeing Zhang Mao lead Zhang Yue to a curtain, a woman's voice behind the curtain said: "Is it Zhang Taichang?"

Although Zhang Yue had expected it earlier, he was still surprised that it was Gao Taotao's voice.

Zhang Yue glanced at Zhang Maoze, but saw that the other party gave him a wink.

Zhang Yue bowed across the curtain and said: "Chen Zhang Yue sees the empress."

It is obviously not in accordance with the rules for the queen to see the minister.

But Gao Tao said: "Zhang Taichang, I remember this is the second time I saw you. You just got married at that time. I also asked about your marriage with the Wu family. I heard that you had a baby a few days ago."

Zhang Yue said: "I ask the empress to miss you. I just gave birth to a boy seven months ago."

Gao Taotao said with a smile: "Very good, very good. The woman of the Wu family is a family of officials and officials. She is willing to entrust herself to you and give birth to a son for you. You need to treat her well, and you will never let her down in this lifetime."

Zhang Yue was stunned and thought, why does the queen care about her marriage?Is there any relationship between Seventeen Niang and the Queen?

After thinking about it, by the way, Gao Taotao is the niece and adopted daughter of Empress Cao, so it can be said that she married Zhao Zongshi, so she feels the same for Shi Qiniang.

Zhang Yuedao: "At the beginning, the empress told me that I always remember that after I married my wife, the husband and wife were harmonious and respected each other like guests. I always believed that if I can't manage my family and let my wife down, then it's not enough for me. An official, a herdsman of the imperial court."

Gao Taotao laughed and said, "That's a good point. It would be great if the officials could think like you."

Zhang Yue was a little embarrassed when he heard the words, he didn't know how to answer them.

But Gao Taotao quickly continued: "That Zhang Taichang, do you still remember the other things I said to you at that time?"

Zhang Yuedao: "I remember, at the Prince Pu's mansion at that time, I remembered that the empress once said that I was still young, and in the future, the monarch and minister will be together for a long time after the official family ascends the throne."

Gao Taotao, who was behind the curtain, smiled lightly and said, "I remember these words too often, and I always remember them."

Zhang Yue said: "I have thanked the empress, I will do my best to serve the officials and the empress."

Gao Tao said with a smile: "That's right. A few days ago, you committed Yan Jin's admonition, and the officials were furious at that time. It was I who persuaded you with Wei Zhengyu."

Zhang Yue said in his heart, if you compare me to Wei Zheng, then the officials must be compared to Tang Taizong, then you are the Empress Changsun.

A good queen is generally praised by others.

It seems that Gao Taotao is not willing to be a lonely woman, are all the empress dowagers of our Song Dynasty so strong in their desire for power?

But with Empress Gao's words, Zhang Yue knew that no matter how much resentment the officials had towards him, they would have to hold back.

Otherwise, it would not be living up to his wife's reputation of being a virtuous person.

Zhang Yue said: "I thank the empress for taking care of you."

Empress Gao nodded and said nothing, Zhang Yue left immediately.

Only afterwards did Zhang Yue know the whole story.It turned out that one of the servants next to Gao Taotao accidentally slipped his mouth, and told the matter to the wife of a duke of the state.

The Duke's wife is also a famous big mouth in Bianjing, so this matter spread like this.

The final result is that Zhang Yue won the name of daring to advise, the official family won the name of accepting advice, and Empress Gao got the name of virtuous queen.

The official family and Zhang Yue are just convenient, the most important thing is the name of Empress Gao's virtuous eldest grandson, which was spread by Bianjing Shilin.

It was only then that Zhang Yue realized that he and the officials had become the background of the foil, which made Empress Gao's virtuous name stand out.

She deserves to be the woman called Yao and Shun among women by later generations.

However, although it became a foil, Zhang Yue gained a reputation in the court for being outspoken and courageous.Although the official position in the upper court is still the lowest among the court officials, since then, many officials who are more than a dozen years old or have more senior experience have taken the initiative to tell the affairs of the court and the Yamen, the more they know, and they take the initiative to discuss with each other. , obviously attaches great importance to his opinion.

Fame also came gradually.

And Zhang Yue, who was about to resign from office, took back the resignation and put it in a conspicuous place in his study at home, as a lesson for himself, to remind himself not to be impulsive again.

Afterwards, even more than Zhang Yue expected, the prince Zhao Xu also sent Zhang Yue a letter.

The words are the famous saying of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. A husband can use copper as a mirror to straighten his clothes; use history as a mirror to know the ups and downs;

The little prince also expressed his appreciation for his outspoken advice to the emperor, but he hoped that he could always advise him like this.Zhang Yue personally replied a letter to the prince, encouraging the little prince to study hard and improve every day.

In the letter, I mentioned my reading experience.

Have you ever tasted the crops of the rich?Its fields are beautiful and plentiful, its food is sufficient and more than enough...

In the letter, Zhang Yue encourages the prince to be broad-minded in his studies and make appointments, to accumulate a lot and make a fortune...

Zhang Yue and the prince keep exchanging letters...

The prince often asked articles from ancient poems, such as Han Yu's original way, and asked Zhang Yue for advice.

According to his own understanding, Zhang Yue replied a letter to him.

All in all, Zhang Yue gave him very high praise for his modesty and eagerness to learn.

In this way, the first year of Zhiping is the past, and the second year of Zhiping is here.

Li Liangzuo, the lord of the Xixia Kingdom, once again led an army to storm Shaanxi. The Song Dynasty fought and talked while resisting, while sending Wensi's deputy envoy Wang Wuji to negotiate in the name of blame.

When Li Liangzuo returned to the country, he blamed Zhang Yue and other three Song Dynasty envoys for their rudeness and arrogance, and demanded severe punishment.

Wang Wuji made a defense, Li Liangzuo simply sent troops to invade the bandits again, and the frontier states along the Shaanxi road were shocked overnight by the Xixia soldiers.

Ouyang Xiu, a political adviser, asked the Song Dynasty not to pursue defense blindly, but to turn defense into offense.

Ouyang Xiu suggested to select a powerful minister to unify the command of the Shaanxi Fifth Route, and at the same time instigate the rebellion against the Hengshan tribe, and choose an opportunity to attack Xixia.

However, the officials refused to listen, so he sent Wang Zhaoming to be taken into custody, and Li Ruoyu was in charge of all roadside affairs. He neither chose a general to command, nor did he want to fight back against Xixia. for.

Han Qi offered to resign in disappointment, but the officials refused.

At the same time, the officials also asked Cai Xiang, who had always been disliked, to go to Hangzhou and dismissed from the position of the third division envoy.Instead, Lu Yijian's son, Han Zhongyan's father-in-law Lu Gongbi, was appointed as the third envoy of Quan.

When Cai Xiang resigned, Zhang Yue went to Cai Xiang's mansion to see him off.Zhang Yue, Cai Jing and Cai Xiang had a big drink.

Cai Xiang drank a few glasses of wine with Zhang Yue, and Cai Jing told the story of his dismissal: "You all want to know why I was dismissed as the third envoy, right? In fact, the government has wanted to dismiss my third envoy for a long time. Li Chu At that time, there were rumors that I proposed to appoint another prince, and I also left a text."

"Han, the two ministers once explained to the officials that Jingzhong Fei's words should not be taken seriously, but the officials asked back, although there is no evidence, how can they guarantee that there is no such thing. They also asked why the rumor makers didn't ask others?"

Cai Xiang said with a wry smile, but Zhang Yue was furious when he heard it, and complained about Cai Xiang's injustice.After being in the third division, he saw with his own eyes how Cai Xiang worked hard to save money for the court.

He also wrote a memorial on how to get rid of the abuses of the court, and listed them one by one by using money and grain expenses.

However, after the official ascended the throne, he repeatedly sent people to the third division to withdraw money, and Cai Xiang just said that the procedures were not in compliance.From then on, the officials hated Cai Xiang, and this was the real reason why he was dismissed.

Cai Xiang took a sip of wine and continued: "Last month, the officials personally asked me why I only came to four or five court meetings out of ten times? The third division is in charge of the world's money and food, and the affairs are complicated. It's like this ten days off for four or five days. Why not use others?"

"At that time, I already knew what the officials wanted and asked to resign. But Mr. Han and Mr. Ouyang knew that I had an [-]-year-old mother in the church, so they argued for me. The officials also said that Xixia invaded Shaanxi, and the three divisions had no money to reorganize the army. , should have chosen someone else."

"That's why I resigned in the hall, and finally made a promise to know Hangzhou in the hall."

Zhang Yue thought to himself, Cai Xiang is an important minister after all, and the official family actually asked him to resign, it simply didn't give him any face.

This is exactly the same as when the officials wanted to let him leave the Jiaoyin Prison face to face.It's just that I didn't accept it, and confronted the emperor face to face, but instead became outspoken and dared to remonstrate, and became Wei Zheng.

I still blamed myself for being too impulsive. Thinking of what happened to Cai Xiang, I felt that I really scolded me lightly in the hall that day.

Cai Xiang, as the dignified envoy of the third division, did not leave him with such a bit of sympathy.There is also Zhang Sheng, the privy envoy, who somehow offended him for no reason, and now he can't get up or down.

It really doesn't look like a gentleman.

Cai Xiang said to Zhang Yue: "You are very conscientious in doing things in the third division. You don't need to be praised for your talents. I know you are a minister who governs the country."

Cai Xiang has a high opinion of Zhang Yue.

"However, after I leave, the officials will definitely instruct the new Third Division Envoy to use the army in the Northwest, and ask the Jiaoyin Prison to pay for it."

Zhang Yue and Cai Jing exchanged glances.Zhang Yue said: "Since the imperial court uses money, then the transfer of Yinjian will do its best."

Cai Jingdao: "I'm afraid it's not easy to give the money."

Zhang Yue thought that indeed, he hated the officials, and with the other party's weird temperament, he must be making things difficult for him.

Cai Xiangdao: "Although the official family is the son of heaven, the third division still needs to be approved by the third division's envoy to use the money. Mr. Lu is an official... It's hard to say, but he has a tacit understanding with your father-in-law. After all, your father-in-law is now The third transfer envoy has been appointed, and he is expected to serve as the deputy envoy of the third division when he returns to Beijing, and then your son-in-law, Weng, will be able to work on business."

After Cai Xiang finished speaking, Zhang Yue figured it was true.

When I went to Shaanxi, I saw that Xue Xiangna and other Shaanxi transfer envoys were simply emperors, but my father-in-law had served as three transfer envoys, and now he was finally transferred back to the capital as a matter of course.

(End of this chapter)