The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Empress Zhang was unaware and resorted to the same methods she had used on her husband before.

This method was the most effective in the past, but now Zhu Youtang seems not to indulge her bad habits anymore.

When Zhu Youtang found that Empress Zhang started to throw tantrums and even gave him a cold shoulder, Zhu Youtang got up and left rudely, leaving Empress Zhang alone to sulk.

"Miss."

Eunuch Chen Kuan came in and said to Empress Zhang, "Your Majesty has ordered that I will not come here for the next few days."

Empress Zhang said, "If you don't want to come, then don't come. Do you need to find someone to inform me? Who do you think you are?"

Chen Kuan was so helpless after being scolded that he could only bow respectfully and leave.

Empress Zhang said sternly: "Stop first!"

Chen Kuan could only stand still obediently.

"Let me ask you, does Your Majesty intend to promote my two younger brothers, Zhang, to higher positions? Or is it just talk?" Queen Zhang asked.

Chen Kuan said: "I don't know."

Empress Zhang asked sternly, "What about Cui Maoren? Why did he stay in Liaodong and not come back? Is Liaodong preparing for war next?"

Chen Kuan didn't dare to answer now. He said, "I was completely unaware of this. It's not that I didn't tell you the truth. I hope the Queen will forgive me."

"I see that you are going backwards as you grow older. You know everything in your heart, but you are pretending to be confused in front of me, right?" Empress Zhang said angrily, "From now on, none of you should come to pay respects to me. Just don't acknowledge me as the queen."

After saying that, Empress Zhang waved her hand and said, "Go away, I don't want to see you again."

……

……

When Chen Kuan returned to the duty room of Silijian, it was already midnight. He was exhausted after the whole day.

Wei Bin walked over and poured him a cup of tea, then asked, "What's bothering you, Eunuch Chen?"

Chen Kuan said, "You won't believe it. Today, the Empress said in front of His Majesty that she wanted to speak for Marquis Jingshan and transfer him back to the capital. Then, there was a little unpleasantness between His Majesty and the Empress. His Majesty also asked me to convey the imperial decree and not to come to Kunning Palace for many days. When the Empress heard this news, would she be nice to me?"

"What... is going on?" Wei Bin didn't understand either.

The emperor seemed to be very indifferent to Empress Zhang.

Chen Kuan leaned over and said, "I heard that... in Binhai City, the virtuous concubine gave birth to another child, but we still don't know whether it is a prince or a princess."

Wei Bin said: "Such a big thing, there is indeed no news at all. Even the person has to be born outside the palace. It was like this before, and it is like this now. Is there any mystery?"

"That's why it's so hard to figure out." Chen Kuan said with a serious expression, "Perhaps it was because Concubine Xian gave birth to a prince that His Majesty went to take care of the Empress and went to Kunning Palace, but he had a conflict over a small matter and didn't care about the Empress' feelings. It could also be because the Empress gave birth to a princess, and His Majesty was upset, so he was impatient with the Empress."

After listening to this, Wei Bin asked curiously, "What is that?"

A word from you is better than a word from you.

Is he a prince or a princess? Why don’t you tell me your opinion? Why are you confusing it all over again?
Chen Kuan said: "We can't judge based on this. This matter started because of Concubine Xian. After all, it was because the Empress spoke for Marquis Jingshan. Your Majesty is most averse to factions among meritorious officials. Moreover, a new noble like Marquis Jingshan should not be involved with relatives by marriage."

Wei Bin sighed: "No matter what, it always feels different from before."

"Do I need you to tell me that?" Chen Kuan said with emotion, "Since Duke Cai rose to power, not only has the situation in the court changed, but even the situation in the palace is different from usual. Our Silijian is the first to be affected, right?"

Wei Bin said, "Yang Peng has seldom come to the duty room recently. He is very busy with the case. Who will go to the Internal Affairs Office next?"

Chen Kuan shook his head and said, "Whoever is close to Duke Cai will have a chance. Recently, apart from Yang Peng, I haven't seen anyone else close to Duke Cai. It's hard to say for sure. As it is now, everything is fine. If there are too many changes, the peaceful days of the past year will be over."

……

……

Duke Cai's Mansion.

Late at night, Zhang Zhou was still writing and drawing something in the study.

The tools he uses are different from those used by ordinary people. Some compasses and calipers are unique to him.

Jiang Pingyu, Han Qing and Lin Yi came to bring him tea several times in succession, but Zhang Zhou paid no attention to them. It was not until nearly midnight that he finished drawing the latest drawing and marked all the simple data.

"Master, it's time to rest."

Jiang Pingyu brought in ginseng tea again.

Zhang Zhou smiled and motioned for her to put it down, then asked her to sit on the chair next to him.

"I haven't been home for a few days." Zhang Zhou said, "I went to Xishan and found that there have been great changes there. I even want to move my family there in the future."

Jiang Pingyu said, "Whatever the master says, it's fine."

Zhang Zhou said: "I just want to go to Xishan more often. I always feel that whether I go to Xishan or Binhai City, there are always a lot of things to do there. On the contrary, after returning to the capital, I can only run between the foundry and the laboratory."

Jiang Pingyu seemed to have no idea. She shook her head and said, "Anywhere is fine."

Zhang Zhou smiled and nodded, motioning for Jiang Pingyu to sit closer, and said, "Well, it's getting late. I should rest as well. You guys must be tired from working so hard this evening, right?"

Jiang Pingyu smiled and said, "Home is not the same as before. We used to go to bed at sunset, but now the master goes to bed late, and everyone in the mansion doesn't go to bed early either. Sometimes we look forward to the master coming back, and even to meeting him and talking to him."

"Really?" Zhang Zhou said, "You don't have to wait for me. If I come back later in the future, I will notify you in advance."

Jiang Pingyu said, "It's nothing, actually. I just chatted with my sisters or played mahjong. There's always something to do in the courtyards."

Zhang Zhou was still smiling.

It is also because I have brought many changes to this family.

Nightlife is also richer than before.

"The troupe's performances a few days ago were also very good. Now my family looks forward to the troupe's performances every ten days." Jiang Pingyu said, "But the children are a little noisy."

Zhang Zhou said: "That's exactly what I wanted to say. I plan to send Zhang Jun to Binhai City after the New Year and let him gain some experience there."

"he……"

"He's not young anymore." Zhang Zhou said, "It's time to let him go and let him go out and explore. It's time to rest. Is there anyone who's still awake?"

Jiang Pingyu said, "I'll go over and take a look." Zhang Zhou smiled and nodded, "If he's resting, there's no need to wake him up. I've been coming back every day lately, so let's have a few days of quiet time first."

……

……

Some time at the end of the year.

Zhang Zhou really seemed to have become idle. He didn't even ask about the affairs of the court. He didn't meet any of the ministers in the court, and he didn't even meet anyone from the Yanwu Hall.

Many people even thought that he was not in the capital, but had gone to Binhai City or was planning the next war.

Most people would not speculate about his whereabouts, because there is a bigger thing for them right now, that is, the emperor wants to conduct further assessments of officials in Beijing and conduct another screening outside of the Beijing inspection.

The general meaning is...the emperor is very dissatisfied with the administration of officials.

Taking advantage of the completion of a major case in the court, the emperor plans to appoint and dismiss existing officials.

Everyone in the court seems to be in danger.

Several censors who had impeached Zhang Zhou have never been released. There are also rumors that the emperor intends to severely punish these people and may even use beating to death as a warning to court officials.

For a time, the people in the court did not dare to speak out, but the scholars in the society expressed sympathy for these people, and some believed that these people really deserved to die...

In such a nearly chaotic situation, no one would pay attention to what Zhang Zhou was doing.

On the ninth day of November, the first snow fell since the beginning of winter, and the snow was quite heavy. It was also on this day that Zhu Youtang summoned four cabinet ministers to the Qianqing Palace. This was also the first time that Zhu Youtang met with court ministers after he announced to the public that he was recuperating in the autumn.

Liu Jian didn't know why the emperor suddenly summoned four cabinet members this time, but he still held a meeting for the cabinet in advance, indicating that when summoned by the emperor, they must know how to "advance and retreat together."

The so-called advancing and retreating together actually means listening to him and Li Dongyang, not speaking rashly, and not showing off oneself.

Liu Jian didn't seem to be too worried about Wang Ao, but now Cheng Minzheng seemed to be increasingly out of his control, which was something he was very worried about.

……

……

In the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youtang seemed to be in good spirits, and even showed no signs of illness. This seemed to confirm what Liu Jian was thinking, that the emperor was just pretending to be sick and using this as an excuse to avoid attending court.

"Cough cough."

In order to show his respect to the cabinet ministers, Zhu Youtang pretended to cough twice, meaning that he was still sick and was meeting them.

After saluting.

Zhu Youtang made an opening statement: "Recently, bandits have frequently appeared around Shuntian Prefecture. Local authorities have reported that they are not doing enough to suppress the bandits. I have decided to send a group of troops from the capital to Shandong, Henan and other places to suppress the bandits, and it would be best if we can eradicate them."

Liu Jian said: "Your Majesty, although there are bandits, they are not endangering the stability of various places for the time being. Most of them are just robbing people on the road. We should not start a war over it."

Zhu Youtang asked, "Why? Isn't it inappropriate to send troops to suppress bandits?"

Liu Jian lowered his head and said, "I just think that this matter is still worth discussing."

After this was said, not to mention Cheng Minzheng and Wang Ao, even Li Dongyang was a little puzzled. They couldn't figure out why Liu Jian would object to something that seemed insignificant.

Was he afraid that the emperor would take this opportunity to purge the generals in the army? Or was he afraid that he would transfer the control of the Beijing Camp to Zhang Zhou?
The problem is that with Zhang Mao's fall from power, the Beijing Camp is now nominally under the supervision of the Minister of War. Zhang Zhou can be said to be responsible for both mobilizing and commanding the troops. No matter how much you, Liu Jian, object, this cannot be changed.

"Let's discuss it again." Zhu Youtang shook his head and said, "I have heard this phrase countless times. This time I don't want to discuss it with anyone anymore. I will just send troops directly. I can't wait a moment. Regarding the matter of sending troops, I feel it is necessary to discuss it with the ministers in the court, but my health does not allow me to go to court yet, so I can only summon you in and discuss it with you here."

Liu Jian bowed and took a step back. He seemed to know that there was no way he could object to this matter.

But he still didn't believe that the emperor summoned them just because of a bandit incident around northern Zhili.

Li Dongyang asked, "Your Majesty, who will you appoint as your commander?"

Since he knew he couldn't object, Li Dongyang just asked directly.

Zhu Youtang said, "At present, I plan to let Duke Ying be in charge of commanding the troops, and the commander of the army will be Lu Wan, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who will also serve as the governor of Northern Zhili and inspect Northern Zhili, Zijing Pass, etc., with Marquis Shouning as his assistant, and Liu Jin as the garrison eunuch. What do you think?"

Several people listened.

Except for the somewhat confusing appointment of Zhang Mao, the appointment of the other people was within expectations.

As a newly rising force in the army, Lu Wan seems eager to prove himself. He was not previously appointed to take charge of the military affairs of the three borders, but this time he was put in charge of the defense of the surrounding areas of Northern Zhili. It seems to be in line with the actual situation to have him lead the troops to quell the bandits.

If Lu Wan doesn't go, then it would probably be most appropriate for Zhang Zhou to go.

But Liu Jian and Li Dongyang would not sit idly by and watch Zhang Zhou lead the troops.

Cheng Minzheng said, "Your Majesty, if that's the case, even if the current instructor and the admiral of the Martial Arts Academy go to lead the troops, then I wonder... will the students of the Martial Arts Academy go with the army?"

Zhu Youtang nodded, seeming very satisfied with Cheng Minzheng's question, as if he had hit the nail on the head.

Zhu Youtang said calmly, "I also intend to use this battle as a means of training. Let them follow the army to the vicinity of Shuntian Prefecture and give them a chance to test themselves in actual combat or to be selected. From among them, we will select those who are suitable to lead the troops."

Liu Jian said: "Your Majesty, if you look down on the bandits, I'm afraid it will backfire."

Zhu Youtang said: "The people currently receiving lectures at the Yanwu Hall are all good generals from the armies of various places. If they are not trustworthy, can we count on the local guards?"

Liu Jian retreated again and said nothing more.

Even Li Dongyang noticed it.

This time, Liu Jian was determined to play the bad guy. He opposed everything the emperor said, but he did not oppose it firmly in order to avoid further conflicts with the emperor.

There is one advantage to doing this, that is, afterward, if something really happens to the soldiers, Liu Jian can stand on the moral high ground and boss the emperor around and say, "You see, I warned you in advance, but it was your stubbornness that led to the current situation. This is the evil result of your disobedience."

Of course, if the front line won, Liu Jian could also say that my action was to make the soldiers alert, and it was precisely because of my cautiousness that they also walked carefully that we achieved today's victory.

Li Dongyang was also a little anxious at this time.

He knew exactly what Liu Jian was thinking.

But in Li Dongyang's opinion, these tricks are too outdated. Today, the emperor has seen many storms and is no longer the naive young man who first ascended the throne. These tricks may no longer work on the emperor.

Instead, it will disgust the emperor. (End of this chapter)