Daming Yinghua

In the evening, according to Wang An's prior instructions, Zheng Haizhu waited at the door of his new business company.

The carriage from Zuofu arrived as scheduled, Zheng Haizhu got into the carriage alone, and said to the coachman who had already recognized his face: "Did your master tell you where to go?"

"Go back to Mrs. Zheng, the master said, after picking you up, go to Tongzi Hutong near Liulichang, the third house near Yangzhi Hutong. There is a dahlia planted in front of the house."

Zheng Haizhu nodded: "Yes, let's go."

It was Wang An's secret residence outside the palace, which was used to communicate with Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou.

Donglin prides himself on being clean, and he is most jealous of being reprimanded by the three parties of Qi, Chu, and Zhejiang for colluding with eunuchs in the inner court. cautious.

Even the other houses that we met at the meeting often changed.

When the sun was setting, Zheng Haizhu entered the royal residence in Tongzi Hutong, only to find that the person sitting opposite Yang Lian to discuss matters was not Prince Wang An, but a scholar in his 40s with elegant robes.

"Mrs. Zheng, this is Mr. Wang." Yang Lian got up to introduce him.

Zheng Haizhu weighed Yang Lian's rare calm tone, and heard that his official position was not disclosed in his introduction, and he only used the word "Mr." vaguely.

Although the scholar's temples are smeared with frost and the corners of his lips are slack, his eyes are shining brightly.

"I have met Mrs. Zheng, my servant is Wang Wenyan, a member of the Donglin Sect."

Sure enough, it was him, Zheng Haizhu thought, how could a graduate of Ming and Qing history not know about Wang Wenyan.

He was born as a jailer, not even a scholar. He collected some black money in the yamen, accumulated wealth, and went to Beijing to make a living. He was favored by Yu Yuli, the official of the Ministry of Punishment, and recommended him to Wang An, the chief companion of the Eastern Palace at that time, as a trusted aide, and assisted Wang An in the alliance with Donglin. , trying to protect the prince, and using various tricks to separate the three factions of Qi, Chu, and Zhejiang.

When Zheng Haizhu entered Beijing, he registered in his heart Wang Wenyan, known as the "No. [-] commoner in the late Ming Dynasty". can see this person.

Zheng Haizhu returned the salute to Wang Wenyan, and asked Yang Lian, "The prince hasn't arrived yet?"

"He is on duty in the palace and cannot come out. It is the same to discuss with Mr. Wang. If Mr. Wang knows, it is the prince who knows."

Zheng Haizhu knows it all.

At this time, Wang Wenyan, although he claimed to have worshiped under the Donglin sect, was actually Wang An's eyes and ears and assistant outside the palace. Historically, he and Huang Zunsu could be called "Donglin's two great think tanks". After Ann was killed by Wei Zhongxian and Keshi.

Zheng Haizhu then sat down, without laying the groundwork for nonsense, and said bluntly: "In the carriage that came, I have already consulted Zuo Gong, the sixth-rank temple minister of Honglu Temple, Li Kezhuo, is not from Donglin Sect, nor is he from Zhejiang Province. The party's minion. But Zuo Gong said that this time, the imperial court impeached Li Kezhuo for falsely reporting the money of his companion. The Taoist temple where I saw Li Kezhuo going to invite the immortal master today is just after holding the empty view , I suspect that even if he was not a member of the Zhejiang party or the imperial concubine, he will soon become a chess piece of the imperial concubine Zheng."

Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou couldn't have Zheng Haizhu's God's perspective, so they couldn't help being a little confused, and they didn't connect for a while.

Wang Wenyan, a cunning and shrewd person who came to the temple from the rivers and lakes, really reacted faster than the real civil servants like Yang and Zuo.

"Madam Zheng, does that mean that Concubine Zheng may want Li Kezhuo to do one thing, get him out of the impeachment memorial, and maybe even be promoted?"

Zheng Haizhu smiled at him, and then showed a confident look: "The concubine Zheng's great favor has long since followed the emperor's success, and it has become a fleeting thing. But now, Daming has no queen, and she can still restrain her as a concubine. All the women in the harem. If I were her, I would rely on the servants selected by the Long Live Lord to dare not stop me, and send them to women in the name of the Long Live Lord in the name of raising children. Li Kezhuo of Honglu Temple offered the elixir refined by Taoism."

When Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou heard the words, their expressions were not very good-looking.

This Mrs. Zheng is also a woman herself, so the matter of arranging the bed is so direct and disrespectful to the emperor.

Although Wang An cooperated with the Donglin faction, he knew the fiery temper of the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty, so he dared to tell them that Concubine Zheng Gui had sent eight beauties to Zhu Changluo.

Yang Lian frowned and said: "Even if, well, even if Long Live Lord wants to take a pulse and prescribe a prescription, he will go to the Tai Hospital. When will it be Honglu Temple's turn?"

Zheng Haizhu stared at Yang Lian: "The imperial hospital prescribed a prescription, and the imperial pharmacy also had to go to the imperial pharmacy to decoct the medicine. When the Wenhua Hall was teaching that day, I asked Wang Gonggong, and now Cui Wensheng is in charge of the imperial pharmacy... Eunuch Cui looked at it, and the imperial pharmacy might boil out a decoction that has no medicinal effect. At that time, Li Kezhuo can offer the elixir."

Yang Lian was taken aback.

After all, he is a dignified foreign minister, and the position of political struggle is in the outer court. At most, he will focus on the personnel changes of the eunuch's palm seal and Bingbi eunuch, because it involves the most important power of approving the imperial administration. Eunuch, how could he care.

But Cui Wensheng is a close servant who has been with Zheng Guifei for decades, Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou both know it well.

Yang Lian looked at Wang Wenyan.

In Wang Wenyan's heart, in fact, in several rounds, he had a very impressive evaluation of Zheng Haizhu, who met for the first time today.

Wang Wenyan felt that this woman was like a chess player who joined in the middle, who could review the opponent's previous move and reasonably guess the opponent's last move.

"Mr. Yang, Mr. Zuo, Wen Yan feels that Mrs. Zheng's precautions are very reasonable. Wen Yan also heard news from the palace recently that it is not unusual for Long Live Lord to recruit lucky palace people."

Zheng Haizhu smiled faintly: "It's not surprising. Concubine Zheng Gui gave people, and Cui Wensheng gave medicines. He is in charge of the imperial pharmacy, offering aphrodisiacs, and the prince is not easy to control him."

"Ma'am, speak carefully." Zuo Guang looked at Yang Lian's complexion as dark as the bottom of a pot, and finally couldn't help reminding Zheng Haizhu.

Zheng Haizhu's expression was frank: "It doesn't matter what you say, Yang Gong and Zuo Gong looked at me, could it be that they were thinking about the harem affairs? What I said was just a big pit that appeared in many previous dynasties. It is the Supreme Being of the Ninth Five-Year Period, who also has the seven emotions and six desires, and will be deceived by others. The new king's ascension to the throne is just the time for those with evil intentions to play tricks. I am really anxious, and this matter cannot be taken lightly."

Wang Wenyan also echoed: "Indeed, before the grand ceremony, Lord Long Live approved a lot of memorials, revived Donglin, and issued internal money to reward the border soldiers. Such a good situation can easily make us slack off our vigilance and neglect our thoughts. Perhaps the harem is even more dangerous."

Yang Lian was displeased just because he respected the dignity of the king, and he actually agreed with Zheng and Wang's analysis.

Zheng Haizhu pretended to be puzzled and asked: "One thing, I don't understand. Even if the imperial concubine set up a scheme to murder the Lord Long Live, her own son, King Fu, would not be able to ascend the throne, right? The Lord Long Live has the eldest son and fifth son of the emperor."

Yang Lian replied: "Long live God has no empress. East Li and West Li are too low in rank. The eldest son of the emperor is not too old, but he is still young. Concubine Zheng probably wants to be named Empress Dowager as soon as possible, and then she will be regent under the name of Empress Dowager."

Zheng Haizhu showed a look of sudden realization: "Then weave together the officials of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang and Xuan who opposed Donglin, if the eldest son of the emperor came to the throne not long ago, before he was born, it would... also be a big deal, maybe in the will. Is there a will to make King Fu the emperor?"