Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 314 Hey! It’s really awesome

Old Zhang was shunned by everyone in the court as the god of plague. Although he was released, he lost his official position and became unemployed.

The person who took his place was none other than Xu Jingzong, the most sinister man in Fuliang. One has to say that the Tiger of the Ministry of Rites was quite capable, at least he was very good at selecting people. It was just that maybe... he was not very lucky. After all, neither Lao Zhang nor Lao Xu were from the court faction, but he picked them up.

Lao Xu was an official recommended by Prince Teng. Basically, he either edited books in the Wenguan or held a sinecure with nothing to do. But he had a good resume and the Ministry of Rites was not involved in many factions, so the Minister of Rites accepted him.

On the third day after Xu Jingzong joined the Ministry of Rites, Cao Dahua, the tiger of the Ministry of Rites, was investigated because someone in Beijing went to the Dali Temple to report that he had accepted bribes and withheld money.

After much investigation, it was found that he was sent out to serve as a governor. From a Shangshu to a governor, he became a local official, which was far away from the center of power. According to his age, it was almost impossible for him to be transferred back to the capital in this lifetime.

At this moment, Gao Shilian's god-level operation began. He pushed Ma Zhou out, allowing this young man to become the acting Shangshu.

Although his official rank remained unchanged and he was still the deputy prime minister, he served as the Minister of Rites concurrently. Once this situation stabilized, his position as the Minister of Rites was basically secure. This meant that Gao Shilian had chewed the last tough bone among the six ministries.

Now, Lao Gao is the only one in power in the court, commanding the six ministries. However, Zeng Ming still has more weight in the Nine Temples, and the two are still mortal enemies, always fighting in the court.

A group of young officials have been promoted during this period, and Ma Zhou is the fastest promoted. On the one hand, he is indeed very capable, and on the other hand, Gao Shilian is actually training a successor.

He wanted to help his own nephews, but his nephews really had no ability. Each of them was at most a seventh-rank official. To let a seventh-rank official do a third-rank job, it would be better to let them work in an idle department and expand the Gao family.

Therefore, he valued Ma Zhou as his disciple, and he tested him for a long time. After all, Ma Zhou came from Fuliang, and he was really afraid that he might be Xia Daosheng's man.

But after several years of testing, he felt that Ma Zhou was okay and had no disputes with Xia Daosheng. He also spoke on Gao Shilian's side in the court, so Gao Shilian decided to help him take the throne.

But Old Gao, even the wisest man can make mistakes. He never expected that Ma Zhou was really Xia Lin's man. He really had no contact with Xia Lin, because all his communication with Xia Lin was through correspondence between his son and the academy.

Usually, some information would be passed on in the name of writing letters to classmates. Gao Shilian also intercepted these letters, but later found that they were all some daily experiences and children's trivialities, so he was too lazy to pay attention to them anymore.

But he never expected that there would always be some subtle information hidden in it, which was what Ma Zhou wanted to convey to Xia Lin. For example, the child wrote in the letter that he usually played with so-and-so, and that so-and-so was the grandson of the Minister of Revenue, and that little so-and-so suddenly brought a new friend one day, and that person was the child of someone's new arrival in the Ministry of Works.

It is these seemingly messy and trivial information that can be pieced together into a complete information chain in Xia Lin's mind. When Ma Zhou needed support, his son would write in the letter: "Daddy has been very tired recently and can't sleep. I asked Daddy what's wrong, and Daddy told me not to worry about the child, but I know it's because Daddy is worried about something."

After these contents are passed to Fuliang, Xia Lin will use relevant information channels to learn about the problems Ma Zhou has encountered recently, and then help him solve the current problems through some very clever designs and solutions.

For example, a few days ago, there was a big problem in the project that Ma Zhou was working on. It was not because of money but because the person who took over the project before died of illness, and the subsequent work could not be completed on time. However, if someone else took over when the project was halfway built, he would lose money, and he did not have enough funds on hand. As the deadline was approaching, suddenly a boss who was willing to take over the deal appeared out of nowhere. The boss did not even want money, but just wanted to get close to Ma Zhou and make friends.

At that time, Ma Zhou took advantage of the situation and reported the matter to Gao Shilian. Gao Shilian even comforted Ma Zhou by saying, "This is how it is in officialdom. You just need to learn to judge the situation."

Then Ma Zhou happily got to know the man, successfully completed the three-province project, and received a huge reward.

He knew exactly where these resources came from, and he understood better than anyone why he was able to rise so quickly.

But this is actually normal. After all, just as Xia Lin said when he left, the moment he walked out of Fuliang County, they were already deeply tied to a rope. Without background and system, they could not move an inch in the capital.

At the beginning, Ma Zhou was eager to try and said he wanted to feel how difficult it was, but after three times he knew that without a team, it would be impossible for him, Ma Zhou, or even the king of heaven to do it alone.

After that, he deeply realized that the reason why he was flourishing here was simply because of the fertile and thick soil under his feet.

Although this feels a bit sneaky, there is no other way.

Now that people from Fuliang have entered the court one after another, Ma Zhou naturally has to shoulder his own responsibilities.

Forming factions is something that almost everyone in the court cannot avoid. If you try to keep yourself out of trouble, people will have plenty of ways to kill you.

So after Lao Zhang was released, it happened that Ma Zhou was at home celebrating his mother's birthday, so he sent invitations to many people, including Lao Zhang and Xu Jingzong.

This intention was actually not obvious, because Ma Zhou was the type of person who "huggled everyone in the class just to hug her", and the presence of two new officials did not attract anyone's attention.

Now Ma Zhou was the deputy prime minister, basically the director of Gao Shilian's secretariat, so he was naturally very grand, and Lao Zhang, as an official who had just been punished, was actually an honor to be invited. He went with Xu Jingzong, and they didn't have much communication on the way, but during the banquet, when Ma Zhou was touring and toasting, he emphasized Lao Zhang's excellent painting skills and hoped that he could come and paint a portrait for his mother.

Old Zhang naturally had the responsibility to do so, and as for Xu Jingzong, he and Ma Zhou had known each other for many years, so there was no need for any nonsense.

The next morning, Xu Jingzong went to visit Ma Zhou before Lao Zhang, carrying some things. He followed the standard route for a new official to find a backer, but when Lao Zhang arrived, Xu Jingzong had already left.

He was grinding pigment in the side hall, while Ma Zhou sat next to him, eating melon seeds and chatting with Lao Zhang.

"You will have to go to the Ministry of Personnel after the New Year." Ma Zhou said with a smile, "If you have any difficulties, just come to me directly."

"How can you just find one? You've just established yourself." Lao Zhang turned his head and glanced at him: "But you've been promoted really fast. It seems that you've been promoted from the third rank, which is only one step away from the highest position in the government."

"Quick promotion is not a good thing. This is Gao Shilian choosing a successor. When the new emperor ascends the throne, there is a 99% chance that he will not be able to continue his duties as prime minister. He needs someone to speak for him in the court, and I will be his mouthpiece."

"So when are you going to kill him?"

"It's difficult. He has the entire alliance of noble families behind him. And their noble families support the Second Prince. I think there will be a bloody storm."

Old Zhang lowered his eyes: "So you are now the Second Prince's man?"

"No." Ma Zhou smiled and said, "Gao Shilian is not stupid. He won't put all his eggs in one basket. I stand on the side of the eldest prince. After all, if the second prince wins, I will be safe. If the eldest prince wins, Gao Shilian can also rely on me to protect him."

"What an old fox."

"Speaking of foxes, Lord Xia is the real fox." Ma Zhou raised his head and said, "When the new scholars enter the court one after another, just wait and see, and you will be the first person in the court who has a crony."

“Hahahaha.” Lao Zhang pointed at his neck with a pen and said, “You’re going to die.”

"So you still have to be careful." Ma Zhou sighed, "Tomorrow I will tell Gao Shilian about this matter in person and ask him to be on guard. Only when he is on guard can he keep you safe."

"About opening a college in the capital?"

Ma Zhou nodded: "Yes, this is imminent. In addition to the official school, the Imperial College, there must be an academy that can compete with the Jiangnan Dao."

"Just do it. If you don't understand, ask me." Lao Zhang patted his chest and said, "I don't have any other skills, but I am very familiar with running a college."

"Don't worry, you're indispensable." Ma Zhou stood up and walked out with his hands behind his back: "You can take your time with your work and have lunch with me before you leave."

"correct."

Old Zhang suddenly straightened up. "When there was nothing to do these few days, Xia Lin's wife told me that there would be two important events during the grand court meeting. One is that His Majesty will personally write the edict of succession, and the second is that the Crown Prince will be the regent. When the Crown Prince is the regent, Prince Teng will listen to government affairs."

"Prince Teng is in charge?" Ma Zhou's eyebrows jumped slightly: "Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that the throne will be usurped?"

"He is definitely not afraid, and the prince will definitely not do this. But I am worried that the prince will not be able to help himself, because the Prince of Teng ruled the throne for three years before slowly handing over power to the new emperor." Old Zhang raised his head and glanced at Ma Zhou: "But this is really risky, we still need to prepare."

"How are you going to prepare?"

"I'm still not sure about Daosheng's arrangements, but I'll tell you in advance so you can have an idea."

After hearing what Lao Zhang said, Ma Zhou nodded gently: "I understand, you go ahead and do your work, we'll discuss it later. It mainly depends on what the family says, and where Lord Xia stands."

"Yes, that's the problem. He is the son-in-law of Prince Teng and the confidant of the new emperor. Please forgive me."
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That's all for today. I've had a stomach cold since the National Day and have had diarrhea for several days. I had been feeling much better after taking some medicine, but today I suddenly started to turn into a cool gun god again.

(End of this chapter)