weaving

That day, after the court session.

The Minister of War Chen Xinjia did not speak to anyone. He hurried out of the palace and went straight back to his residence.

He was so frightened that he didn't even have time to drink a sip of tea before he heard the butler Chen Shi come forward and report to him: "Master, the Right Assistant Minister Zhang Ruoqi wants to see you."

"Where are people?"

"Because the master has not returned from court, Minister Zhang is waiting for him in the West Flower Hall."

Chen Xinjia stopped walking, lowered his head and thought for a while before saying, "Go and ask him to come to the back hall to see me."

…………

Soon, Zhang Ruoqi, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, came to the side hall in the back hall of Chen's mansion.

Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, who had not even taken off his court robes, was very satisfied when he saw Zhang Ruoqi dressed like an ordinary wealthy businessman. He secretly praised: "Zhang Ruoqi is quite capable. I think the trip to Kaifeng will be very smooth!"

With a calm expression, he first ordered the butler to find a seat for Zhang Ruoqi, and then ordered tea to be served. It seemed that everything was the same as usual, except that the meeting place was changed to the back hall.

Seeing that Zhang Ruoqi had already sat down and a pot of tea was placed on the small table, Chen Xinjia instructed Chen Shi, "I want to talk more about ministry affairs with Minister Zhang. There is no need to serve here, and there is no need to keep anyone outside the door."

Chen Shi had been serving in the mansion for a long time. He knew what his master was thinking when he heard this. He went out of the door without saying a word, drove away the servants who were waiting there, and retreated five steps away, standing guard there silently, not allowing anyone to come near and disturb him.

Seeing that he and Zhang Ruoqi were the only ones left in the side hall, Chen Xinjia asked, "Tianshi, when are you returning to Beijing?"

"Replying to this soldier, I just returned last night. Because the city gates were closed, I stayed outside the city for the night. After the gates are opened today, I will come directly to the mansion to wait for my return from court."

"Oh. So you haven't gone home yet. Have you had breakfast?"

"Thank you for your concern. Steward Chen served me some porridge, which I have already eaten."

Chen Xinjia was very pleased that Zhang Ruoqi came to see him as soon as he entered the city, but he was no longer in the mood to chat any more and went straight to the point: "Did you see Zhang Cheng?"

Zhang Ruoqi's current appearance is just like Chen Xinjia's previous appearances when he went to the palace to meet the emperor. He also sits with half of his buttocks on the chair. Although it does not look much different, anyone with a discerning eye can tell how uncomfortable it is.

"I have met Earl Yongning."

"What did he say?"

"Yongning Bo said that we should 'first suppress the internal forces, then fight against the external forces'!"

"First suppress the internal forces, then fight against the external forces?"

After Chen Xinjia repeated Zhang Ruoqi's words, his eyes lit up and he said, "But he said it himself."

"That is exactly what Earl Yongning said."

Zhang Ruoqi leaned forward and lowered his voice and said, "The Earl of Yongning also said that the key to this matter is still 'above'!"

As he spoke, he imitated Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng and pointed at the beam of the house.

Chen Xinjia's heart sank when he heard this, and he thought to himself, "The higher-ups... I'm afraid I can't do anything about it!" However, he couldn't tell Zhang Ruoqi what was in his heart, for fear that other troubles would arise. The current situation did not allow him to make any more mistakes.

"Lord Yongning, do you have anything else to say?"

Zhang Ruoqi was silent for a moment before he spoke: "The Earl of Yongning has something to say to me."

"What is it?"

"Party formation does not necessarily mean selfishness!"

"Cliques don't necessarily have to be for personal gain?"

Chen Xinjia stood up from his seat abruptly after hearing this. He first looked at Zhang Ruoqi for a while, then paced back and forth in the hall. After a while, he returned to his seat and sat down again. He asked Zhang Ruoqi, "Did Earl Yongning really say that?"

"Yes. Earl Yongning said to me, 'Although the emperor opposes forming cliques for personal gain, if I don't form a clique, even though I am favored by the emperor, I will put all the civil and military officials in the court against me. Once something happens, how many people will speak up for me?'"

When Zhang Ruoqi said this, his voice was already very low, for fear that speaking louder would cause discomfort to the Minister of War Chen Xinjia.

Seeing that Chen Xinjia did not show any extreme reaction, he plucked up the courage to continue, "The Earl of Yongning also said, 'When it comes to negotiating the terms, if necessary, the entire court can discuss it openly, and everyone can argue about it to the utmost, and quarrel with it passionately, so that things can be accomplished.'"

"No..."

Chen Xinjia's whole body was shocked, and he shouted loudly, "Don't do this!"

Zhang Ruoqi also trembled all over when he saw this, and even his speech was a little incoherent: "I...I also said the same thing. But...but Earl Yongning said, 'Don't fight about everything...Don't fight to be clear, don't argue to be unclear, don't fight to be unclear...How do you know...how do you know who is the enemy and who is the potential...potential ally'..."

Chen Xinjia sighed with a complicated expression. He knew very well in his heart that what Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng said was not an inappropriate method, but he had always claimed to be a "lone minister" in front of the emperor. Now the only people he could use were the few people in the Ministry of War under his control.

However, "forming a party" takes too long. How can one form an alliance and establish a party with full-fledged wings overnight?

Regardless of whether what Zhang Cheng said about "forming a clique but not pursuing personal gain" was correct, the timing alone did not allow him to do so. Moreover, doing so would completely destroy the image of a "lonely minister" that he had painstakingly created in front of Emperor Chongzhen, and the consequences would be immeasurable.

As for making the matter of "negotiating terms with the slaves" public and allowing the court officials to debate freely, he did not dare to do so!

Based on Chen Xinjia's understanding of Emperor Chongzhen, anything that seemed normal could anger him and even bring him fatal disaster.

Therefore, the Minister of War Chen Xinjia was silent for a while, and then stopped talking about this topic and turned to ask about the war against bandits in Henan: "Tianshi, you just came back from Kaifeng, do you think the Earl of Yongning can resist the bandits?"

Zhang Ruoqi felt relieved when he saw Chen Xinjia no longer talking about the "negotiation". He picked up the teapot on the table, walked over and filled Chen Xinjia's cup, then said, "In my opinion, Yongning Earl is struggling to maintain his position and has no energy left to attack the rebels, let alone drive them away."

"So...what about the thief?"

"It seems that the rebels still have some strength left, as can be seen from the fact that they divided their troops to pursue Commander Ding and Zuo Kunshan."

Chen Xinjia nodded in agreement, but his worries became even greater, and his heart was tangled again.

Just now at the morning court, the emperor had already criticized him harshly for his ineffective suppression of bandits in Henan and the defeat in Zhuxian Town, although he knew in his heart that the main reason was the leak of the "negotiating terms with the slaves".

However, if there is no further progress in the Henan anti-bandit military campaign, there is no guarantee that Emperor Chongzhen will use this as an opportunity to arrest and punish him. If it really comes to that, with two crimes combined, he will probably be doomed to death and his reputation will be ruined, and there is a great possibility that his clan will be brought into disaster!
"What about Zhang Fuzhen... He also has no way to repel the bandits?" (End of this chapter)