The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 346 A Half-Diplomat

Zhu Youtang successfully solved the problem of "accepting a concubine".

It's just that there seems to be no wind and no waves in front of him, and it's hard for even Zhang Zhou to judge what's hidden behind it.

Because this incident had such a great impact on history, Zhang Zhou didn't dare to say that he must have done the right thing.

If there is no one from the concubine, it will definitely be stronger than the side branch if you find a concubine?
Before Zhang Zhou came out of the palace, Xiao Jing greeted him: "Sir, Xu Shangshu from the Ministry of Rites said he wanted to invite you over, and there must be something important to discuss."

"Just right."

Zhang Zhou nodded.

Before, he mentioned to Zhu Youtang that he wanted to find the ministers in the court to disclose the pregnancy of the concubine outside the palace, and let the ministers prepare in advance.

At that time, whether it was Zhang Zhou or Zhu Youtang, all they thought of was Xu Qiong. After all, this person relied on his in-law relationship... As for the close relationship between Xu Qiong and Zhang's family, it was not a big problem. The in-law relationship is more related to the royal family, and Xu Qiong will also know how to judge the situation on such issues.

……

……

Ministry of Rites.

When Zhang Zhou arrived, Shen Lu came out to meet him, and after walking outside for a while, Xu Qiong came out to meet him.

I didn't see other officials from the Ministry of Rites. Obviously, Xu Qiong also deliberately avoided others to discuss matters with Zhang Zhou.

"Duke Lai." Xu Qiong cupped his hands slightly.

As the minister of the Ministry of Rites, Zhang Zhou did have the capital of arrogance, and Xu Qiong didn't want to hurt her face too much.

Zhang Zhou bowed his hands and returned the salute, which was regarded as a return of the courtesy of his peers: "I have met Xu Butang."

After entering the back office, the three sat down.

After the tea was served, Xu Qiong asked people to close the doors.

"Does Duke Lai know about His Majesty's recent visits to the palace?" Xu Qiong asked.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "Xu Butang is being polite. You can just call me Bingkuan. In fact, I also have related matters to talk about. Your Majesty has encountered difficulties and needs someone to come forward to help."

Xu Qiong and Shen Lu looked at each other, and their eyes revealed a kind of helplessness that "they were all counted".

Ask Zhang Zhou to talk about the emperor's concubine, even if it is the order of Queen Zhang and Mrs. Chang Guo, they are always difficult to talk about.

This is the emperor's family business.

Unless it is obtained from the holy will, the minister cannot be involved casually.

Shen Lu said with a smile: "Mr. Lai, but it's okay to say."

Zhang Zhoudao: "That's it. Today I went down to see the Queen and talked to her about some things, involving Your Majesty's acceptance of concubines."

"Ah?" Shen Lu said in shock, "You...you went to talk to the empress?"

"Yes, I went there at the emperor's order. The queen agreed very much with your majesty's accepting concubine, and even offered to bring her into the palace gate so that your majesty can give birth to more imperial heirs, so that the Ming Dynasty can be stable. .By the way, this little nobleman is...pregnant outside the palace."

Zhang Zhou's gossip was commonplace, so he told the story.

Xu Qiong and Shen Lu were so shocked that they stood up directly.

This made Zhang Zhou embarrassed to continue sitting upright, so he stood up and asked, "You two, what's wrong?"

Xu Qiong tried his best to calm down, and asked: "Your Majesty...do you want a new heir?"

"Yes." Zhang Zhou nodded.

Xu Qiong asked: "Has... entered the palace?"

"Not in the palace." Zhang Zhou's answer was very formal, without any turmoil in his tone, "The queen just agreed to take this girl into the palace as a concubine, but she intends to let this nobleman give birth outside the palace before entering the palace. The door is also to avoid gossip."

Xu Qiong glanced at Shen Lu, obviously he didn't understand the arrangement of the emperor and empress.

Shen Lu continued to ask: "Since you are the heir of the emperor, how can you be born outside the palace?"

Zhang Zhou shrugged his shoulders and said, "This is the result of an agreement reached between Your Majesty and the Empress. Even if I try to persuade you, it will be futile. However, from my point of view, even if a person has not entered the palace and has not received a title, he should not hide it." , you should be honest with others, otherwise some things will not end well.”

"Yes, yes, yes." Shen Lu nodded hastily.

Xu Qiong frowned and looked at Shen Lu with weird eyes, as if asking, which side are you on?

Of course Shen Lu was on the side of the emperor.

What about the relatives of the Zhang family... No matter how close the relationship is, the emperor's interests must be put first. After all, it was the emperor who gave them their current status, not the relatives of the Zhang family.

When the emperor accepts the concubine and the concubine has a dragon heir, the status of the Zhang family will be further reduced.

Now that there is Zhang Zhou, the Zhang family's influence in the court has been greatly reduced.

"Bingkuan." Xu Qiong suddenly became polite, and asked casually, "Where do you live in the official residence outside the palace? Has Your Majesty properly... arranged? You should know the inside story, right?"

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "How can I ask more about these things?"

Xu Qiong said: "If the concubine gives birth to a child outside the palace, if it's a princess, it's fine, but if it's a prince... Bingkuan, can you understand what this old man means?"

A new realm of charades.

Zhang Zhou wanted to say, what did you say, I want to understand what you mean?
"If Xu Butang is saying that the Dragon Heir was born outside the palace and there are disputes about his identity and status, then His Majesty should be worried, not the Queen, right?" Zhang Zhou said.

Shen Lu was beside him, and seemed not to understand for a while.

Xu Qiong heard it very clearly, and he said: "This old man is worried about this, but it is indeed a good thing that Your Majesty has a dragon heir. I have some irrelevant matters to discuss with you, since that is the case, I will not mention it."

Zhang Zhou smiled.

You two old foxes, you took the initiative to find me if you have nothing to do. Didn't you have been entrusted by the Jin family to come to me to discuss dealing with the women outside the emperor's palace?
Now that we know that the emperor and the empress have settled the matter, does it mean that this is an "insignificant" matter?

"That's right." Zhang Zhou said, "I'm thinking about how to leak this matter, and what kind of rumors will be made in the court in the future. Don't I need to remind you?"

This time there was no need for Xu Qiong to answer, Shen Lu on the side smiled and said: "Please play the matter of accepting the concubine, I can personally ask for it."

Xu Qiong glanced at Shen Lu again, as if blaming Shen Lu for agreeing to the matter too early.

It's okay for others, both of us are entrusted by Mrs. Chang Guo, and we have nepotism with Zhang's relatives, do you have a position?
Why can't someone else bring it up?
Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "Yes, this is also what the empress means. After all, the empress does not want to give people the impression of being jealous. The empress has always persuaded her majesty to accept more concubines for the sake of the continuation of the Ming Dynasty. It is often her majesty who thinks that Don't act too hastily, the Empress is really the hope of Ming Dynasty in the future."

Xu Qiong couldn't help frowning upon hearing this.

Zhang Zhou actually said that the Queen is Daming's hope?What is this kid thinking?

Are you deliberately speaking ironically?

"The old man has nothing to say, Bingkuan, you haven't been to the Ministry of Rites yet, why don't the old man take you around..."

"No need, I will definitely visit again when I have a chance in the future."

"Please."

"Please."

……

……

Zhang Zhou left the Ministry of Rites.

Xu Qiong and Shen Lu saw each other off in person. Xu Qiong had a calm and indifferent attitude towards Zhang Zhou when he came, but when he left, Xu Qiong suddenly became very enthusiastic towards Zhang Zhou.

When the people left, the two returned to the inner office.

Xu Qiong said: "Zhang Bingkuan has ulterior motives."

"Ah?" Shen Lu didn't know why, and asked, "This...how do you call it? Does this matter...have anything to do with him?"

From Shen Lu's point of view, the emperor found a woman outside the palace and discussed with the queen about accepting the concubine into the palace. What does this have to do with Zhang Zhou?

Why do you, old Xu, say that Zhang Zhou has ulterior motives?

Xu Qiong said coldly: "Your Majesty's temper, you and I should be clear, if His Majesty wants to accept concubines, he has already accepted them in the past few years, why wait for Zhang Bingkuan to appear before accepting concubines?"

"This... It can't be said that Zhang Bingkuan is behind the scenes, right? The empress and the Zhang family also rely heavily on him, so he won't dig a hole for himself, right?" Shen Lu seemed like a good old man.

It seems that Shen Lu is completely unaware of the dangers of officialdom.

It is also because Shen Lu's background does not match his status. More often, Shen Lu is playing the role of a slick old man in the court, shuttling between love and law, helping people to talk more than doing things for the court.

But Shen Lu has never offended anyone, and others will not intentionally go against him, because of his special status, and he has to get through many joints.

Xu Qiong said: "Didn't you listen to him? Your Majesty can't even talk to the queen about accepting the concubine, let him do the talking on his behalf, and then the queen proposed that the concubine can only enter the palace after giving birth outside the palace?"

"Is... what's wrong with this?" Shen Lu couldn't speak smoothly all the time.

Xu Qiong sighed: "If an emperor's heir was born outside the palace, with no one to rely on, wouldn't he be under the control of Zhang Bingkuan at that time?"

"what?"

Rao Shen Lu felt that his political thinking was top-notch, but he didn't think about it at all.

But Xu Qiong is a discerning person.

One can tell at a glance that Zhang Zhou seems to be helping Empress Zhang, making the children born outside the palace have a low status and cannot be compared with the prince born out of the palace, but in fact this is also the method Zhang Zhou used to control the children outside the palace.

Shen Lu immediately understood what was happening, and asked eagerly: "Old Xu, what do you mean, this mother and son... No, this woman is under Zhang Bingkuan's control, so he is not in a hurry to let this woman enter the palace now , but still need to be in control, and let him gradually rely on it. He is stepping on two boats. What is he... What is he trying to do?"

Xu Qiong asked back: "When did Zhang Zhou step on the boat of the Zhang family?"

"..." Shen Lu hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Is there no? Shou Ninghou and Jian Changbo both regard him as their right-hand man now, and now the Zhang clan also relies on him..."

Having said this, Shen Lu was also dumbfounded.

Because he also sensed something was wrong.

Xu Qiong said: "The second son of the Zhang family, although he has achieved some fame in the towns of the Nine Borders, he is far away from the imperial court. Now the queen can only rely on you and me if she wants to employ people, and even listens to Zhang Bingkuan for advice. Don't you think that Zhang Bingkuan is someone else? Purposeful?"

Shen Lu seemed to be apprehensive, shivered, shook his head and said, "It's good that the two of Zhang's family are not in the capital, if they are, if they encounter this kind of thing, they will cause chaos."

Shen Lu knew the temperament of the Zhang brothers.

If there was no Zhang Zhou in the past, and if the emperor found some woman outside the palace, Empress Zhang would definitely try to murder her through her two brothers, at least to make it impossible to keep her child.

The Zhang family brothers can ignore it, but he, Shen Lu, can't.

Xu Qiong said: "Who knows if Zhang Bingkuan has planned all of this? The second son of the Zhang family may go to war alone, but now both of them are away, but at this time there is something wrong with the relatives. Do you know who this woman is? What's her background?"

"How...how do you know this?" Shen Lu smiled wryly.

Obviously let them go to let the wind go, saying that the emperor wants to accept a concubine.

But they don't even know the identity and origin of this woman. It can be said that even their two insiders are kept in the dark.

Xu Qiong said helplessly: "Because of this, it is more likely that Zhang Bingkuan plotted this matter alone. In this way, you go to see Mrs. Chang Guo and tell this matter. If you want the Queen to turn back, you only have one chance today." .As for other things... let it go!"

What Xu Qiong can do now is to tell Jin about the matter.

At least let Jin understand that your daughter has a rival in love.

Even if your daughter was deceived by Zhang Bingkuan, you are an old lady with rich experience in life, and you have never even met Zhang Bingkuan, so you will not be fooled by Zhang Bingkuan's rhetoric, right?
"Then... I'll go right away..." After Shen Lu cupped his hands, he hurriedly withdrew.

……

……

The office of Yanwutang in Beijing.

When Zhang Zhou arrived at the place, he immediately dispatched someone to call Tang Yin who was checking and maintaining the artillery in the Beijing camp.

"Why me?"

When Tang Yin knew that he was going to be used as an envoy to go to Liaodong to investigate the military achievements and fighter opportunities of the Huangshui battle, he was extremely resistant in his heart.

Maybe it was Tang Yin's lazy temperament. Tang Yin didn't want to go out and run around, and because he went to the northwest, he was tossed a lot.

And no matter how you look at it, the Liaodong industry is also a thankless and hard job.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Bohu, you think I won't let you go, who is more suitable?"

"Isn't there still Lizhan?" Tang Yin dared to say.

"Hehe." Zhang Zhoubao smiled mockingly.

Tang Yin seemed to understand instantly.

It is also a hard job, why does Zhang Zhou work on his brother-in-law and let him, an "outsider", do?

The two said they were brothers, but it was because he had to worship under Zhang Zhou's family after he lost the bet. Was Zhang Zhou out of goodwill?If there is a chance to torment him, I will definitely arrange things for him!
Tang Yin seemed to understand that he couldn't escape this time.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Li Zhan is mostly in charge of industrial and mining affairs. After all, he is a member of the Ministry of Industry. But you are different... This time you go to Liaodong, I have an important errand for you... You will cooperate with the people from all over Liaodong Men and horses, fight again."

"what?"

Before Tang Yin was just heartbroken, this time he was almost unsteady.

There must be a limit to tossing people, Mr. Zhang!

Advise you to be kind.

Tang Yin said: "Didn't the three guards of Duoyan retreat westward? If they send troops again, they won't leave from Liaodong, right?"

"Oh, it has nothing to do with the prairie." Zhang Zhou casually picked up a booklet on the desk and looked at it. He didn't know when it was there. The place is only one of his many office offices, and he really doesn't care about it, "It's Jianzhou Wei."

"This……"

"How can you kill a chicken with a sledgehammer? Originally, I wanted Zhu Zhijie to go with you, but after thinking about it, I felt that Zhu Zhijie was too emotional recently, and I was afraid that he would not be able to fight a tough battle. This time, I have to clean up Jianzhou Wei. In fact, it’s not too much trouble, just cooperate with the memorial given by the king of North Korea, ask Daming to teach him a lesson and stop Jianzhou Guard’s expansion behavior!”

"North Korea?"

Tang Yin found that his brain was indeed not enough.

"Bohu, do you think it's too cold in Liaodong now, so it's not suitable for war?" Zhang Zhou asked.

Tang Yin wanted to say, you know everything, why are you still asking?
Zhang Zhoudao: "War is a thing to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness. I happen to have a batch of military supplies here. By the way, let the people from the Beijing camp go to Liaodong with you and send them there. After the agreement is made, the defense of Liaodong will be the top priority. Of course you have to hold on tight."

Tang Yin asked: "What does the servant Zhang mean, I... won't come back in the future?"

"You can come back after finishing your errands." Zhang Zhou said.

Tang Yin suddenly thought of a terrible thing, and asked: "Will North Korea cooperate with Daming to send troops?"

"Maybe." Zhang Zhou said with a smile, "Are you looking forward to the mission to North Korea?"

Ten thousand Cao Nima in Tang Yin's heart passed by.

He cursed loudly in his heart, you Zhang Bingkuan is a lunatic, right?You actually asked me to go to North Korea in winter?Is this what people do?And it is likely to pass through the area controlled by the Jianzhou Guard...Let me, on behalf of Daming, discuss with North Korea to jointly send troops to attack the Jianzhou Guard... This is more uncomfortable than killing me!

Seeing Tang Yin's uncertain face, Zhang Zhou was a little disappointed and said: "A man must take responsibility, and don't just think about retreating when something happens. In addition to a batch of military supplies, I plan to add another hundred heavy artillery to the Liaodong, cooperate with this battle."

Tang Yin remained speechless.

Zhang Zhoudao: "All Liaodong officers and men look forward to military exploits. This time you can also go there and reward the three armies. After gaining prestige, won't you have a chance when the governor of Liaodong is replaced next time?"

Tang Yin asked: "Can I change to someone else?"

"No." Tang Yin asked directly, and Zhang Zhou answered more simply, "You must go to this matter, but you can choose your subordinates, but this matter is confidential, and it involves credentials, etc., and it must be done after you arrive in North Korea. Only when you see the king of Korea can you show it."

Tang Yin swallowed and said, "Is there a certificate of credentials?"

Can that be called a national book?

That should be called a reminder.

Was found by the people of Jianzhou Wei, still alive?
Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "Bohu, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trust, what do you think you have? What do I like about you? Let you join the division? Do you have any responsibility?"

Tang Yin sounded awkward.

You are obviously scolding me and scolding me, why did you say it with a smile?

And when you said it, you didn't shy away from being so upright, just because you are a senior brother, you can teach me like this?Both of us are Jinshi in the same year, okay?
"Leave tomorrow. Before you leave, I will ask you to meet with the saint, and His Majesty will personally arrange errands for you."

Zhang Zhoudao, "This battle is not for the sake of being famous, but for the right result. In the future, if the Ming Dynasty wants to annex those disobedient foreigners, there is no need to talk about reasoning. Just as the Tartars never asked why they invaded the Ming Dynasty." Just like robbing the people, this time it's our Daming's turn to show no mercy."

(End of this chapter)