spend time

This matter soon reached the ears of Prime Minister Wang.

Several staff members considered their words and spoke carefully: "Prime Minister, the promotion of the shaft plow has been delayed again and again. After all, it is a major matter related to people's livelihood. If we continue to obstruct it, I am afraid that the emperor and the queen mother will be unhappy."

Prime Minister Wang sneered: "Zuo Zhen's incident was caught by the Queen Mother, which made the Prime Minister feel disgraced and had to deal with it personally. If I don't turn this situation around, all the officials in the court will think that I am afraid of the Queen Mother."

"The hearts of the people cannot be dispersed. Otherwise, how can I, the Prime Minister, be dignified in the future? There is no need to discuss this matter again, just proceed as previously arranged."

Prime Minister Wang said exactly what he said, but the staff did not dare to persuade him any more and had no choice but to agree.

A few days later, An Guogong's people came back dejectedly.

"What? The blueprint was stolen?" An Guogong was furious, pointing at the leading guard and yelling: "You bastard! You can't even handle this little errand! How important is the blueprint, a dozen of you should be watching it day and night, how could you? Let the thieves steal it?"

The leader of the guards knelt down with a grimace and apologized: "You guys know the importance of the blueprints, so we divided them into two shifts and watched carefully. The journey was always uneventful, but we never thought that a fire suddenly broke out in the inn last night. We helped put out the fire together, but in the chaos, some thieves stole the blueprints."

"Knowing that something was wrong, I searched the post house inside and outside. All the people stranded in the post house were also offended, but I couldn't find the blueprints."

"The little one failed in his errand and has no choice but to come back. Please punish me, Lord Duke!"

Anguo Gong's face was livid, he raised his leg and kicked him all over. The leader of the guards was immediately kicked to the ground. Without uttering a word, he struggled to get up and knelt down again.

Duke An Guo gritted his teeth and said angrily: "Get out of here, each of you will receive fifty boards."

After losing his temper, he had to go to the palace to apologize to the emperor and Queen Mother Zheng.

Duke An Guo entered the palace with an unlucky look on his face, and when he arrived outside the Zhaohe Hall, he met Zhou Shangshu, the Minister of Works, who was also waiting outside the hall.

Zhou Shangshu is not tall, has dark skin, and does not have the air of a civil servant at all.

Zhou Shangshu came from a serious imperial examination background and worked as a river official for more than ten years. Later, he was recommended by Prime Minister Wang to join the Ministry of Industry as a minister. After the death of the late emperor, Emperor Taikang ascended the throne, and Shangshu of Zhou was promoted to be minister of the Ministry of Works.

It can be said that Zhou Shangshu is the backbone of the Prime Minister's Party. The Ministry of Personnel, which is responsible for the promotion of officials, has always been controlled by Prime Minister Wang.

The Prime Minister's Party is powerful. In comparison, the Queen Mother Party, which has only emerged in recent years, is far behind. Take An Guogong as an example. It is true that he is the Secretary of the Ministry of War. However, General Zuo, the commander-in-chief of the 100,000-strong border army stationed at Yanmen Pass, is a subordinate of Prime Minister Wang. Most of the generals of the 200,000-strong army stationed in the capital come from Prime Minister Wang’s sect. .

It's hard to say how many people he, the Minister of War, can command.

"Zhou Shangshu," An Guogong changed his usual attitude of looking higher than his head and bowed his hand politely.

Zhou Shangzhu returned the gift expressionlessly without saying a word.

An Guogong knew that he was wrong and had to apologize: "I sent people to chase Zhou Shangshu that day because I wanted to complete the errands assigned by the emperor as soon as possible. Those who killed the talented people did not do their job well and offended Zhou Shangshu. Please forgive Zhou Shangshu."

Zhou Shangshu said calmly: "The Duke of Guo is on an errand, and I have nothing to say. However, there is one thing that I really want to say to the Duke of Guo in front of the emperor."

"The Duke sent someone to ask for the drawings, and the subordinates gave them to him and returned to the capital with them. In the eyes of the Duke, the matter of dredging the river is naturally not as important as the promotion of the new shaft plow."

"However, there was a fire in the posthouse last night and the blueprints were stolen. How should I explain this to the emperor?"

Duke An Guo had a sarcastic look on his face, and just as he was about to open his mouth to explain, Eunuch Qi had already come out: "The emperor has a decree, please invite Duke An Guo and Zhou Shangshu to come in together to have an audience."

In the Zhaohe Hall, Emperor Taikang sat on a dragon chair, Prime Minister Wang was given a seat, as well as Zhang Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel and Li Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites.

Li Shangshu is a wallflower and has been closely associated with Prime Minister Wang recently. Zhang Shangshu is a die-hard Prime Minister Party.

Duke An Guo's heart skipped a beat. It’s going to be finished today!

"Zheng Shangshu is anxious to see me," Emperor Taikang asked, "What do you have to report?"

Anguo Gong gritted his teeth and handed over his hand: "I came to the palace to plead guilty."

……

Half an hour later, Empress Dowager Zheng hurried over and broke into the Zhaohe Hall again.

Poor An Guogong was being sprayed all over by Prime Minister Wang, Zhang Shangshu, and Zhou Shangshu. Emperor Taikang, who was sitting on the dragon throne, also had an unhappy face, and his words were quite scolding.

Empress Dowager Zheng was also very upset.

How could there be such a coincidence in the world? It was a fire accident and a thief happened to steal the blueprint! This was clearly a trap, and An Guogong was caught in it by accident. Now I can't argue at all, and I am extremely embarrassed by being sprayed.

However, this matter cannot be explained in this way. Otherwise, it will become unreasonable. Even though she was the Queen Mother of Liang, she couldn't act in such a partial way.

Empress Dowager Zheng endured her anger and interceded for Duke An Guo: "Zheng Shangshu failed in his duties and deserves to be punished. The emperor fined him half a year's salary to teach him a lesson."

My mother's face cannot be denied.

Emperor Taikang agreed obediently.

Prime Minister Wang used this matter to weaken the prestige of Empress Dowager Zheng and suppress Duke An Guo. He felt happy in his heart, but he did not miss anything on his face: "The drawings are gone, and we have to ask the emperor to order Nanyang County to send another copy. As I see it, , this drawing does not need to be sent to the Ministry of Industry, it is sent directly to An Guo Gong's office, and the errand of copying the drawings to promote the new shaft plow will be done by An Guo Gong."

Zhou Shangshu quickly answered: "I also agree. In the next few months, I will be busy dredging the river, and I really have no time. It happens that Zheng Shangshu has the time and energy, so please ask Zheng Shangshu to handle this errand!"

It would be embarrassing for a minister of the Ministry of War to rush to do errands for the Ministry of Works.

Duke An Guo was squeezed out by Prime Minister Wang and Shangshu Zhou, and his face was burning.

Empress Dowager Zheng was watching from the side. He could not retreat at this time, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask for permission: "I have the audacity to ask for your approval."

……

After lighting the incense, Empress Dowager Zheng left the Zhaohe Palace with a sullen face and returned to Jingyang Palace without saying a word.

Duke An Guo followed Empress Dowager Zheng fearfully.

Entering the inner hall of Jingyang Palace, Empress Dowager Zheng waved her hand and all the palace residents retreated.

An Guogong immediately took a posture to be scolded, his movements were so skillful that it made people feel distressed.

Seeing his appearance, Queen Mother Zheng became even more angry and cursed him vehemently.

After scolding, the problems that should be solved still need to be solved.

"The Ai family immediately wrote a letter to Shaohua." Empress Dowager Zheng herself did not realize how affectionate it was to call Jiang Shaohua by her given name: "She presented this drawing. Ask her to present another copy immediately."

"When the drawings arrive in the capital, you immediately summon the Hanlin bachelors to copy the drawings. If you still can't do this, get out of the court as soon as possible!"