If Shen Yi had only vaguely become Chen's first minister when he returned to the court last year, then now, the status and title of this first minister are completely confirmed.
Even Zhao Changping, who has been an elder for many years and half a mentor, now takes the initiative to give Shen Yi high respect.
This is not to say that Zhao Xianggong is following the trend, but Shen Yi's achievements are so great that if Zhao Changping still takes the airs of his elders, he will be a bit cynical.
It's afternoon now, and Zhao Changping hasn't gotten off work yet. After all, it's the end of the year, and Mr. Zhao, who also serves as the household department, is the busiest time of the year.
Mrs. Zhao and Zhao Er invited Shen Yi into the main hall to drink tea. Mrs. Zhao, who rarely saw guests on weekdays, personally accompanied Shen Yi in the main hall to talk, and talked about many family issues.
After drinking a cup of tea, Mrs. Zhao looked at Shen Yi and said with some emotion: "Zi Heng has indeed become darker and thinner in the past few years. Since I can stay in Jiankang for more time, I should take a good rest."
"I remember that when Zi Heng first came to Jiankang, he was still a handsome young man. It is estimated that he will need to rest for a while before he can recover."
Mr. Shen smiled and said: "When I entered Jiankang in my early years, I was very weak. I might not be able to get up even if others pushed me. In the past ten years, I have been running around outside. I have worked hard and my body has become a lot stronger."
Having said this, Shen Yi first looked back at Zhao Jizhou, then turned to look at Mrs. Zhao, and said softly: "I came here to visit my uncle, and to meet my second brother."
"Now the imperial court is counting the achievements of the Northern Expedition. In the past few years, my second brother and I have been traveling around the north and have been almost responsible for the entire logistics of the Northern Expedition. The credit is not small. I will report it in the next two days and write to Your Majesty by the way. I would like to recommend my second brother."
Shen Yi paused and said: "Where do you want to serve, second brother? Otherwise, I recommend you to serve in the Ministry of Household Affairs? If nothing else, at least one Yuanwailang can be obtained for you. If your Majesty is more generous, he can give it to you." It is not impossible to have a doctor from the household department."
Although the rank of the Sixth Division officer is not particularly high, his authority is extremely heavy. When Zhao Jizhou followed Shen Yi to the north, he was carrying a seventh-grade Yinguan. If he could become a fifth-grade Yuanwailang Even if you are a doctor of the fifth rank, you can definitely say that you have reached the sky in one step.
You must know that Song Ying, the son-in-law of the Zhao family who rides the dragon, has been in the imperial court for more than ten years, and now he is just a doctor in the six departments.
However, Song Ying was working as a doctor in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which was relatively more expensive.
When Mrs. Zhao heard this, she couldn't help but feel a little excited.
She knew very well that with Mr. Shen's current status and his achievements in destroying the country, he could speak in the court better than several prime ministers and officials. As long as he made a recommendation and it was not an outrageous recommendation, the court would definitely will approve.
This also means that her little son, who has always been "incompetent", also has a future!
"Erlang, you..."
Mrs. Zhao looked at Zhao Er and asked, "What do you think?"
Zhao Jizhou scratched his head and said, "Mom, I don't want to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs."
He looked up at Shen Yi again and said helplessly: "Zi Heng, I just followed you to do some hard work. I really have no merit. I won't consider it as the Sixth Division Officer. Otherwise, you can recommend me to work somewhere else." When the local officials are over and the magistrates of prefectures and counties are established, I, like Senior Brother Zhang, will go and raise them."
Shen Yi smiled and said, "Second brother, you can't regret what you said."
Mrs. Zhao's face changed. She quickly stood up and walked to Shen Yi. While adding tea to Shen Yi, she said: "This kid has lost his mind and gone crazy. Zi Heng should not listen to his nonsense. It is better to wait until the master comes back." Ziheng, please discuss this with me."
Zhao Er lowered his head and took a sip of tea, and then he was a little unconvinced: "Since it is your decision, why bother asking me."
Mrs. Zhao raised her eyebrows angrily, glared at Zhao Jizhou angrily, turned around and gave Shen Yi a helpless smile: "This child is several years older than you, Ziheng, but he has not improved at all. As long as he has If Zi Hengqian has one or two points of ability, my aunt can rest assured."
Shen Yi shook his head and said, "Auntie, you don't know much about my second brother."
"He has been supervising the grain and grass logistics in our army for several years. Basically, he has not made any mistakes, at least not even a major mistake. Sometimes, in order to supervise the transportation of grain and calculate a few accounts, he would spend two or three days without sleeping. Commonplace.”
"Second brother is just a bit stubborn and doesn't know how to speak softly."
Mr. Shen looked at Zhao Jizhou and said softly: "He has suffered a lot in the past few years, and I guess he has never mentioned it to you, the second elder."
Mrs. Zhao said "Huh?" and turned to look at her son.
The latter turned his head away, stood up, seemed to wipe his tears with his sleeves, and then walked out, trying hard to keep his voice from crying.
"I'm going to see if dad is back."
Looking at Zhao Er's leaving figure, Shen Yi shook his head slightly.
Zhao Er is just too bad at talking. The relationship between the Zhao family and his son would not have become so tense now.
In fact, it's not that he's not good at talking. When he was coaxing a little girl by the Qinhuai River, he could talk better than anyone else. When he was with peers like Shen Yi, he was also very eloquent.
But some people cannot say a word even in front of their families.
Part of it is because of Zhao Er's own character, and part of it is also related to his father, Zhao Changping, who has always been focused on work and does not have much time to teach his children, and has a serious personality on weekdays.
Shen Yi stayed at Zhao's house for almost half an hour, and finally waited until Mr. Zhao came back from the Yamen. After the Prime Minister saw Shen Yi, he pulled Mr. Shen into his study without saying a word.
After arriving in the study, Mr. Shen said: "When I was talking to my aunt and my second brother just now, I mentioned my uncle. I was about to ask my uncle how to arrange my second brother's official position."
Mr. Zhao shook his head nonchalantly and said, "We'll talk about him later."
After he took Shen Yi to sit down, he poured tea for Shen Yi and said with a smile: "Ziheng has accomplished this great work. When the history books write about our Hongde Dynasty, the first thing that cannot be avoided is our current Majesty. ,The second one is you, Zi Heng."
Mr. Shen took the tea handed over by Mr. Zhao with both hands, shook his head and said with a smile: "It is not my fault alone. Not to mention the soldiers who worked on the front line, all the positions in the imperial court have contributed. Among them, the household department chaired by my uncle is I have made great achievements, but if the Ministry of Revenue had not provided the money and food in time, I would have been unable to continue after I conquered Shandong."
"There is no need to say such things."
Zhao Changping pulled Shen Yi to sit down and said: "As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, I might not be able to do it well if someone else comes to me, but as Zi Heng, the head coach of the Northern Expedition, I am afraid that only Zi Heng in the entire court can do it. "
After Shen Yi sat down, Zhao Changping stared at Mr. Shen's face for a long time. He even hesitated for a moment, then sat opposite Shen Yi and asked, "Zi Heng, how will the Huai'an army deal with itself in the future?"
Shen Yi put down the tea in the cup and looked up at Mr. Zhao. He was silent for a moment and asked, "Is the uncle asking this, or is Mr. Zhao asking this?"
"Of course your uncle is asking."
Zhao Changping sat silently opposite Shen Yi and looked at Shen Yi: "At this moment, no prime minister dares to ask you such a thing in person, and no one will ask you such a thing."
Shen Yi naturally didn't know that the emperor had already held a meeting with the prime ministers before he came back. At this moment, no one really dared to ask him that.
Only Mr. Zhao dared to ask such a question.
"To be honest with my uncle, I want to go back to Jiangdu."
Shen Yi said silently: "My merits are enough to support the Shen family for a lifetime. My son seems to be unable to study, but he can still marry the royal family. The Shen family will not say that they will be princes for generations, but at least they can be separated from the country."
Zhao Changping said nothing and looked at Shen Yi quietly.
Mr. Shen continued unhurriedly: "But it is unlikely that Your Majesty will let me go back to Jiangdu. There are still many things for me to do in the court and in the north."
Mr. Zhao took a deep breath and looked at Shen Yi: "The other thing is, will the officers and soldiers of the Huai'an army allow you to return to Jiangdu?"
"That's okay."
Shen Yi smiled and said: "Uncle, they are all human beings and they all have their own lives to live. No one will be able to survive because I don't go north."
"only…"
Mr. Shen said leisurely: "If I don't go to the north, the combat effectiveness of the Huai'an Army will definitely drop, and it will drop a lot."
"If these three generals have been leading the Huai'an Army, they should still be able to maintain their combat effectiveness for several years. Once the three of them are replaced in the future, the Huai'an Army will immediately revert to the old army. By then, will it be able to serve as a frontier army? It’s hard to tell.”
"Uncle, the border troubles in the north have not disappeared."
Shen Yi reminded: "The Tatars are watching with eager eyes, but Zhu Li's vitality is still intact."
"They were just temporarily driven away by the Huai'an army."
"Once the Huai'an army weakens, the Yan capital will be in the flames of war at any time. Not only will the relocation of the capital be in vain, but the situation of Chen's unification of the world may also become a fantasy at any time."
"We may be dragged into a long war again at any time."
Zhao Changping lowered his head and took a sip of tea and remained silent for a long time.
"Did Ziheng tell His Majesty these words?"
"No."
Shen Yi shook his head and said: "Your Majesty is a wise king, wise and wise. There is no need to say these words clearly."
He paused, and then said softly: "If you say it too clearly, it will hurt your feelings."
Mr. Zhao didn't speak anymore. He silently took a piece of white paper from the desk and quickly wrote three words on the paper with a brush.
"Try Yi Shuai."
Mr. Shen shook his head, took the brush, and quickly added three words.
Mr. Zhao turned over the white paper and looked at the three words written by Shen Yi on the paper, silently lost in thought.