The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 374
Imperial Palace, Qianqing Palace.

The eunuch Yang Peng, who was the temporary admiral of the East Factory, presented Zhu Youtang with a copy of the "Residence Newspaper" obtained from the people, while the surrounding supervisors Xiao Jing, Chen Kuan and Wei Bin were all silent as if they were chilling. Dare to lift.

"Is this the crown prince's seal?" Zhu Youtang's face was stern.

Yang Pengdao: "Your Majesty, the mansion newspapers printed by the crown prince are all about demonstrating the prestige of the Ming Dynasty and stating the facts. This is something that some folks imitated and secretly criticized the imperial court...especially for His Majesty's use of Lai Guogong. , made a lot of discussion, the slaves sent people from Dongchang to inquire, and this mansion report came from outside the capital, and it was mostly circulated in Shandong, Henan, etc., and it may also come from Nanzhili, Jiangxi, etc..."

"Snapped!"

Zhu Youtang slapped the table.

Yang Peng quickly lowered his head and stopped talking.

Zhu Youtang said angrily: "The Yindi newspaper shows the world. The prince is sincere and has his own opinions. Some people dare to take the opportunity to make trouble and criticize the affairs of the government. Now even these people who slander me and Bingkuan are not anywhere. Do you know?"

Yang Peng said: "Investigating."

"Cough cough cough..." Zhu Youtang coughed angrily.

Xiao Jing hastily comforted him: "Your Majesty, the dragon's body is the most important thing. What these treacherous people say is not true. It is expected that the people will not listen to it. Your Majesty appeases his anger and let Dongchang and Jin Yiwei investigate secretly."

Zhu Youtang raised his hand to prevent the eunuch from coming to caress his back, and he said sharply: "I understand the reason why three people become tigers. There are some things that I want to set the tone and let others shut up, but I never want anyone They seem to be more anxious than I am. When Bingkuan has made outstanding achievements, they are attacking Bingkuan like this. Are they attacking Bingkuan? That is hitting me in the face!"

"Yes." Xiao Jing responded, thinking in his heart, fortunately Yang Peng is doing all the errands in Dongchang now, otherwise I will be blamed for this.

Zhu Youtang said: "Investigate thoroughly, and we must investigate to the end. Anyone who spreads such falsehoods will be sent to prison for questioning. We must find out who is behind the scenes!"

Wei Bin said: "Your Majesty, this matter involves a lot. If it is related to the ministers of the court..."

"No matter who it is! This move can be said to be an attack on me. They will not show mercy. Do I still want to show mercy? Bingkuan will return to Beijing in less than a month. Could it be that he has made great contributions to Liaodong? After returning to the capital, will he still be criticized by others? Am I worthy of him?" Zhu Youtang felt resentful for Zhang Zhou.

He made so many contributions to Ming Dynasty, but he was still secretly attacked, saying that he was a traitor, and that Zhang Zhou used alchemy to disrupt the country.

How could the emperor be willing to be wronged?

"Remember, no mercy will be shown to anyone found, even important officials in the court!" Zhu Youtang seemed to be ruthless.

……

……

After the matter was over, Yang Peng followed Xiao Jing out, with a complimenting expression, he wanted to ask Yu Xiao Jing for advice.

Xiao Jing had a serious expression on his face, but he seemed to be putting on an air of not being close to strangers, and said: "You can't even find the source of those tabloids attacking the imperial court? You don't even know whether it's from Jiangbei or Jiangnan?"

Yang Peng said: "I have tried my best, but it is indeed too difficult to find out, and the spread is too wide. It is said that in Gansu, Ningxia and other places, these tabloids are also circulating."

Xiao Jing said in a cold tone: "The prince founded the mansion newspaper in order to highlight the merits of His Majesty and the Duke of Lai in governing the army and the country, but it seems that some people don't want to see such things spread, and it seems that they are attacking the Duke of Lai. , describing Duke Lai as treacherous like Li Guang before, but in fact he is attacking His Majesty's nepotism."

"Then Eunuch Xiao..." Yang Peng nearly knelt down and begged for advice.

Xiao Jing finally glanced over and sighed: "The tabloids in the market are just like rumors. If someone wants to use this to attack His Majesty, there must be a purpose. What do you think their purpose is?"

Yang Peng said: "Is it... to create a gap between His Majesty and Master Zhang?"

"You really have a long-term vision, estrangement? Don't you think that because of these tabloids, His Majesty has more trust in the Duke of Lai? Maybe someone wants to play tricks secretly, so as to instigate the relationship between His Majesty and the court officials?"

Xiao Jing's words surprised Yang Peng.

Yang Peng thought to himself, you, Xiao, will really find a new way to plan things?

Don't you want to say that the person behind this scene is either Zhang Zhou himself or someone related to Zhang Zhou?

Yang Peng said: "Is it possible that someone wants to attack His Majesty and Master Zhang in an attempt to cause trouble?"

Xiao Jing's expression was displeased upon hearing this.

I have been hinting at you for a long time, but you still haven't "opened up"?
"Understand it yourself." Xiao Jing didn't bother to tell Yang Peng, and walked away.

Yang Peng stood in place, looked at Xiao Jing's back, and thought in his heart: "This Eunuch Xiao, is he determined to stand with Wen Chen? Or is it that he is also related to the tabloid incident? This kind of thing How could it involve Duke Lai? Does he not understand this truth?"

When Yang Peng turned to leave, he suddenly seemed to understand something, and sighed secretly: "No wonder, he didn't want me to involve this matter on Wen Chen, but who is he attacking from behind...?"

Yang Peng thought he was extremely smart, but he encountered difficulties on some issues involving political positions.

……

……

Inside the Wenhua Hall.

Zhu Houzhao was temporarily added three classes a day, which was a kind of "punishment" for Zhu Youtang to his son.

Let you have nothing to say that you want to run the residence newspaper. Now it’s all right. Someone deliberately used the royal family to run the residence newspaper, secretly saying that one copy was also compiled by the royal family, and used it to attack Zhang Bingkuan. Now, you kid is tantamount to helping the wicked indirectly.

I also know that your intentions are not bad, but it belongs to "doing bad things with good intentions", and you can't punish you publicly, then use some unconventional means to let you concentrate on your studies and stop thinking about those crooked things all day long.

"Who am I messing with?" Zhu Houzhao had a class for the day and was about to have dinner, when he was told that Zhu Youtang asked him to transcribe two more articles, and he was not allowed to eat if he couldn't finish transcribing.

If you dare not to do so, you will be grounded when you turn around.

Liu Jin said earnestly: "Your Highness, let's write it. The servant just heard the news that someone secretly used the mansion to report something to attack His Majesty and Master Zhang."

Zhu Houzhao widened his eyes and said: "Is it related to the mansion newspaper? Is it worth it? The palace mansion newspaper praises them all. I have already read the second draft, isn't it okay?"

Liu Jin didn't know how to explain it, but he still went around as much as possible, using simple language... It took nearly half an hour for Zhu Hou to understand that someone was attacking Zhu Youtang and Zhang Zhou in the name of the residence report.

He also made Zhang Zhou the biggest traitor since the founding of Ming Dynasty.

"Hahaha..." After Zhu Houzhao understood, he was not ashamed, but just laughed.

Liu Jin was dumbfounded.

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Are those people not good at brains? Some people believe this kind of nonsense? The surname Zhang is almost ashamed now, pointing out where to fight and win, this kind of people who can make meritorious deeds Famous generals, I haven’t seen one throughout the history books, even if it’s Zhuge Kongming and Champion Hou, is he as awesome as him?”

Liu Jin said helplessly: "Your Highness, even the champions Hou and Kong Ming are often attacked by the world. It is impossible for this person to gain everyone's approval."

"Damn, is there such an unreasonable thing?" Zhu Houzhao seemed to have experienced the sinister human heart for the first time.

I seem to understand that if you want to govern the country, it is not enough to use only the capable ministers in fact, but also the capable ministers in the eyes of others, or the "capable ministers" recognized by literati.

Liu Jindao: "Your Majesty is very angry now. The decent people from Dongchang are investigating. Some people are saying that this matter may involve Master Zhang's too much contribution. It may be that someone secretly wants to remind Your Majesty to use alchemy to speak. He is still an alchemist from beginning to end, and cannot be regarded as a good man for governing the country."

"Why?" Zhu Houzhao stared in bewilderment.

Liu Jin smiled wryly and said, "It probably means that when alchemy is always ineffective, the more respectful you are to these unpredictable things, the easier it is to go astray in governing the country."

"Hey." Zhu Houzhao said with a smile, "That said, it seems to be quite reasonable. Who knows if the surname Zhang will be so accurate every time in the future? If it is not accurate, it happens that the palace is in person, then... ...wouldn't you be in trouble?"

Liu Jin was taken aback.

This analogy is really... a deep understanding!Take yourself as an example!

Even if you think so, it's not too much for people outside to think so, right?

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "When my father finds the people who spread lies in secret, I will go and see if I see if they will be skinned and cramped."

Liu Jin said: "Prince, these two texts..."

"Write it, why don't you write it? Later, I have to go to my father to admit my mistake. I said, I acted recklessly and let the young people take advantage of it, so that my father's first life's fame was almost destroyed. Even Mr. Zhang's reputation has been greatly tarnished... Haha, I can't make it up anymore, I don't believe that people in this world are so stupid to believe those nonsense!"

Zhu Houzhao looked smug, as if he didn't feel that he had made any mistakes.

Liu Jin hurriedly said: "Your Highness, you must not say that after seeing Your Majesty."

"Huh!" Zhu Houzhao snorted softly, "Now that the outsiders are attacking the surname Zhang, if they just stop the residence newspaper, it doesn't mean that they are admitting to outsiders that what they say is right? The more this time , the more you want to write a special book about Zhang's meritorious service, then those treacherous villains will jump over the wall in a hurry, and they will show their true colors."

"Father always understands the truth. I believe he will not be blinded. Bring me some paper, and I will write an introduction to let him know what I mean!"

Liu Jin had one head and two big heads, and he suddenly felt that he might be punished.

……

……

Zhu Youtang saw the memorial written by his son in the name of the article.

Although the content is still somewhat incoherent, the general meaning is to express it, indicating that it is necessary to continue to highlight Zhang Zhou's contributions, so as to fight against the rumors in the market, and take the opportunity to find out the person who spread the rumors secretly.

What about Kunning Palace?

Zhu Youtang took his son's words, smiled and said to Empress Zhang: "The prince has grown up. In the past two years, I feel that he has understood a lot of truths overnight, and sometimes his insights are no less than those who give me advice. people."

Empress Zhang said: "Your Majesty, the prince already has your demeanor."

"Haha." Zhu Youtang said to Xiao Jing who was standing on the side, "I told the people in Dongchang in the past, just follow what the prince said, print more mansion newspapers, and print more, and the government offices in various places will also post notices to the outside world, so that Everyone in the world knows Bing Kuan's contribution to Daming."

Xiao Jing said: "Your Majesty, will this be too deliberate? Will it be counterproductive?"

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "Don't tell me, how can others tell right from wrong? In addition, we need to find some people to help spread Bingkuan's reputation secretly. You don't need to deliberately spread his ability in alchemy, just say His profound insights in managing the army and employing people led him in the direction of worthy ministers. He was the number one scholar of the Ming Dynasty, with outstanding literary talents. I also took this opportunity to mention his literary name more. By the way, his learning of the mind was not in the Ming Dynasty. Is it widely spread everywhere? Let people from the Imperial Academy come forward and pass it on.”

"Yes." Xiao Jing had a smile on his face, "Mr. Zhang is really capable. He has achieved outstanding achievements in both civil and military affairs. The world will respect him a lot. How can he listen to those rumors?"

This sounded right, even Zhu Youtang and his wife didn't think so.

But in fact, Xiao Jing's words are also reminding Zhu Youtang... Zhang Bingkuan is so awesome, it is easy to cause a situation where the tail is too big to lose, Your Majesty.

Everyone is a rabbit and a dog. You use Zhang Zhou more and more evil. You really became a figure under one man and above ten thousand people in Daming. How did you let Wu Xun, the Chinese official of the court, mess up?
If you don't give him a way out, can he not use all kinds of tricks to attack Zhang Zhou?
Zhu Youtang said: "It's best to find out everything before Bingkuan comes back. If he hasn't found out when he comes back, let him do it himself! Now that the grassland is not flat, attacking Bingkuan at this time is tantamount to It is an attack on me with ulterior motives, so it should be regarded as treason! No mercy!"

……

……

There are a lot of gossip about Zhang Zhou in various parts of Daming Jiangbei.

But it doesn't have much impact on Zhang Zhou's reputation... Those who are willing to believe these rumors are those who envy and hate Zhang Zhou's rise, especially the literati of Ming Dynasty. Within a year or two, he became the figure who called the wind and rain in the Ming Dynasty.

Just because someone secretly printed tabloids to attack Zhang Zhou, they would also add fuel to the conversation in the market, trying to confuse more people into believing their point of view.

But the people in the market are more willing to see the things in front of them. Zhang Zhou's military achievements in various places in Beiguan cannot be faked. In addition, the people themselves are superstitious about such unpredictable characters. Worship naturally spread from the marketplace.

Zhang Zhou, who was in Shenyang, also learned from the scouts that he was attacked by a tabloid.

For a "celebrity" like him, he has long adapted and got used to it.

No matter how many attacks are made on him, are there any ministers who attack him more directly?

Originally, he rose up in a short period of time by some special means and became an important figure in Ming Dynasty. If he could not accept any criticism, Zhang Zhou thought that he would be very unqualified as a time traveler, because a time traveler must first have a big heart , You have to be thick-skinned and not glass-hearted.

The more people attack me, Zhang, the more effective I am in changing the times.

It is precisely because you think that you cannot challenge me through formal channels that you think of those shady methods... Sorry, I, Zhang, am not influenced by you.

"Tang Yin has already passed the North Korean fortress. According to the time, he will arrive in Shenyang Zhongwei in two days. He has sent troops to meet him. As for the food and grass, it will take some time to arrive. Marquis Anbian always Japan will send people back to send a letter, always on guard against North Korea's possible disobedience."

When Lu Wan came to see Zhang Zhou this time, the case was already finalized.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Are you sure you're coming back to Beijing with me?"

"Yes." Lu Wan said flatteringly, "I am willing to do my best by your side."

"it is good."

Zhang Zhou smiled and nodded.

He doesn't expect every minister to be that kind of "benevolent" person. In fact, the people he used at the beginning, from Zhu Feng, Wang Qiong, Wang Shouren, Lu Wan, etc., have some "flaws" in their bones. More tend to follow the trend, otherwise I would not be able to dispatch them.

Knowing the faults of these people, and expecting them to act in full accordance with the Confucian norms of benevolent ministers, it would be a bit difficult to force others.

People are not killed for their own sake.

It is understandable that Lu Wan wants to think about his own future, and he cannot be judged by his selfishness or utilitarianism as unusable.

Zhang Zhoudao: "In fact, Liaodong is also fine, but if you want to operate in the borderlands for a long time, you will often have disasters. It's better to go to a comfortable place in the capital and stay at the feet of the emperor. No matter what you do, you can let your majesty see it." .”

Lu Wan hurriedly said: "This is not the intention of being an official."

"I know what you mean. We are ministers in the same palace, and we all have the same ideas. I don't like staying in Liaodong. I have been tossing around for half a year. I can't even stay at home when I give birth to a son. Now my son is born without a name." Zhang Zhou looked very sorry.

"Mr. Lai, you..." Lu Wan wanted to say, your son doesn't have a name, so just give him one and have someone send a letter back to the capital?
Zhang Zhou added: "Your Majesty said he would give a name."

Lu Wan was speechless after hearing this.

Does it make any difference if there is no name?A son born to a concubine of yours can be named by the emperor... Even if you take a concubine, the emperor bestows a marriage... With this kind of treatment, who can compare?
"In the past two days, I have also taken it easy."

Zhang Zhou stretched his waist and said, "Recently Uncle Xinjian's progress is also very good. Most of the Jurchens in Jianzhou have migrated here, and some of their leaders and upper echelons have been moved to live in the capital, and let them live with me. Go. By the way, recruit 3000 people to accompany me... In addition, I will play to His Majesty, so that His Majesty can decide on the new governor of Liaodong as soon as possible. Late."

"Yes."

Lu Wan took the order, and then mentioned, "Duke Lai, there is one more thing, I don't know if I should say it or not."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "What else can you and I have to hide?"

Lu Wandao: "That's right. I heard that there are people who criticize you now. Although the officials are unable to investigate thoroughly, they vaguely know that the news may originate in the south of the Yangtze River."

"Oh?" Zhang Zhou asked curiously, "How do you know?"

Zhang Zhou thought to himself, could it be that you, Lu Wan, are better than the people from Dongchang?
Lu Wan sighed: "It's because before I arrived in Liaodong, someone secretly sent a letter to try to win over. It seems that some people have a heart of disobedience to Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)