On this day, after the morning court, in the Prince's East Palace.⊥
Prince Zhu Heyu, Pavilion Elder Cheng Yuandao, Imperial Censor Zuodu Censor Lu Chunxiao, Minister of Rites Bao Wenjie and others all gathered together. After Zhao Shancai lost his official position, he was taken in by Prince Zhu Heyu and became the prince's assistant in the East Palace.
The guests also sat aside.
A few days ago, Zhao Shancai was dismissed from his official position and honor by Emperor Deqing because he secretly left the southern patrol team, which was caught by others. Decades of hard study and a lifetime of career hopes were all over.
funeral.
If such a heavy blow were to be dealt to other people, if their psychological quality was slightly poorer, it would be common for them to seek death and survive. Even those with a tough mind would most likely never recover.
However, at this time, Zhao Shancai was as elegant and calm as ever, his eyes were still bright and wise, and he seemed not to care about this matter at all.
For Zhao Shancai, fame and official position are not everything, they are just a way for him to achieve his goals. If this road is temporarily blocked, then just find another way, but there is no need to care too much.
In Zhao Shancai's view, after he was deprived of his fame and official position, it might be a blessing in disguise - first of all, he was no longer burdened with worldly affairs and could fully assist the prince Zhu Heyu; secondly, this matter
The incident also made Prince Zhu Heyu feel guilty towards him, and he wanted to make amends, but he valued Zhao Shancai more and more. In the past few days, Prince Zhu Heyu had been obeying Zhao Shancai's suggestions - during this time
, the "Prince Party"'s low-key behavior in the temple also originated from Zhao Shancai's suggestion.
The most important thing is that as long as Prince Zhu Heyu can successfully ascend the throne in the future, the official position and fame that Zhao Shancai has lost now will naturally be rewarded tenfold and a hundredfold.
Therefore, such a blow not only did not defeat Zhao Shancai, but instead inspired Zhao Shancai's fighting spirit and arrogance.
In the past few days, Zhao Shancai has moved into the Prince's East Palace and has become a guest of the Prince. On the one hand, he advises Prince Zhu Heyu, and on the other hand, he fully integrates all the forces of Prince Zhu Heyu and the "Prince Party".
.
Zhao Shancai believed that his lurking was only temporary. When he appeared in the temple again, the situation in the temple was turned upside down!
*****
At this time, Crown Prince Zhu Heyu looked helpless and said to everyone: "In the morning court today, the officials of the 'Shen Party' came together to impeach Zhao Junchen. The momentum was quite huge. It was originally a great opportunity. We are waiting for you."
If we cooperate with the situation and act according to the opportunity, we may not be able to shake Zhao Junchen's foundation. However, Mr. Zhao thinks that we should keep a low profile now and wait for the opportunity to change, so I will tolerate it for the time being, but I missed a good opportunity."
Hearing the faint complaints from Prince Zhu Heyu, Zhao Shancai sighed softly and said: "Your Highness, please be patient for a while. The current situation in the DPRK and China is not good for us. Not only are all the civil and military officials of the DPRK watching our every move, but also His Majesty
I am also quite dissatisfied with us. Under such circumstances, we can say that we have done more and made more mistakes and done less and made fewer mistakes. The only way to do this is to stay put and act in a low-key manner."
After a pause, Zhao Shancai then said: "In addition, Your Highness, although Shen Changmao is now the chief minister of the cabinet, the 'Shen Party' has no ability to shake Zhao Junchen's foundation. At most, it can only cause some trouble for Zhao Junchen.
, even if we add our strength, it will probably not help. Therefore, today's "Shen Party" action to impeach Zhao Junchen seems to be very powerful, but it will not have any effect... What's more, His Majesty and Zhou Shangjing are now working hard to impeach Zhao Junchen.
To stabilize the situation between the ruling and opposition parties, we will never allow fierce conflicts between the 'Shen Party' and the 'Zhao Party'."
As Zhao Shancai's words fell, Lu Chunxiao also echoed: "Your Highness, what Mr. Zhao said is reasonable. You see, after the members of the 'Shen Party' impeached Zhao Junchen, they were immediately reprimanded by His Majesty. If we impeach Zhao Junchen together, I'm afraid it will arouse His Majesty's dissatisfaction again, so Your Highness, you'd better follow Mr. Zhao's advice, it's better to stay quiet and wait for the situation to change."
In the past few days, Zhao Shancai's intelligence and character have already secretly convinced everyone in the "Prince Party". Therefore, although he is still young and only white now, whether it is Prince Zhu Heyu or the officials of the "Prince Party" , but they all address Zhao Shancai as "Mr. Zhao" to show their respect and attention to Zhao Shancai.
Prince Zhu Heyu shook his head and said: "I'm not questioning Mr. Zhao's advice. I just watched the treacherous ministers and corrupt officials in the court do whatever they wanted, but I could only watch. I was inevitably a little depressed and impatient, but I didn't know how much I should endure. when."
Seeing the depressed look of Prince Zhu Heyu, Zhao Shancai secretly shook his head.
His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, is usually very receptive to advice and can listen to other people's suggestions with an open mind, but only when he encounters matters related to Zhao Junchen, he becomes impatient and stubborn.
In a way, after Prince Zhu Heyu suffered repeated setbacks from Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen has become his inner demon and flaw, and may be exploited by others in the future.
"Such a situation may be small or big, but it cannot be ignored. We must find ways to slowly resolve it in the future." Zhao Shancai thought secretly.
However, Zhao Shancai did not express his thoughts. He just explained to Prince Zhu Heyu with a calm expression: "Please rest assured, Your Highness, we will never wait too long. Then Zhao Junchen confidently led the rectification The commercial tax errand will definitely be a big one next. Regardless of whether he succeeds or fails in the end, the situation between North Korea and China will inevitably change again. By that time, there will naturally be many opportunities."
After hearing Zhao Shancai's explanation, Prince Zhu Heyu seemed a little helpless, but he still nodded in agreement.
At this moment, the prince's young master Guo Tang, who had been silent, suddenly said: "Actually, I sent someone to contact His Highness the Seventh Prince yesterday, and His Highness the Seventh Prince also had the same idea as Mr. Zhao, and also believed that we should be patient now Wait for the situation to change, downplay the impact of previous events, wait until Zhao Junchen’s commercial and tax rectification actions begin, and then look for opportunities to take action again.”
After hearing Guo Tang relaying the views of the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian, everyone on the scene nodded. Even the prince Zhu Heyu, the expression of impatience on his face became slightly lighter.
Everyone in the "Prince's Party" was convinced by the intelligence and vision of Zhao Shancai and the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian. Since the two of them had the same idea, there was nothing wrong with it, so everyone in the "Prince's Party" could only wait patiently for the opportunity.
However, after hearing what Guo Tang said, Zhao Shancai frowned slightly.
In the past few days, Zhao Shan gradually discovered that whether it was Crown Prince Zhu Heyu or the officials of the "Prince Party", their dependence and trust on the seventh prince Zhu Heyu had reached a deep-rooted level.
However, Zhao Shancai did not trust the seventh prince Zhu Hejian very much because of the reminder from his teacher He Ming, and had always been secretly wary. Therefore, he had been trying to downplay the influence of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian on the "princeling party".
Therefore, Zhao Shancai suddenly said: "Senior Guo, you should not contact His Highness the Seventh Prince privately in the future. It is a taboo of our court for ministers from other dynasties to contact the prince privately. The current situation is somewhat sensitive. If such a situation makes people
If you find out, I'm afraid you will be impeached by the imperial censors, and you will be in trouble again... In addition, I heard that His Highness the Seventh Prince has been ill these days, so we'd better let him rest in peace and recuperate."
On the other side, considering Zhu Hejian's physical condition, Prince Zhu Heyu also sighed and agreed: "Indeed, the seventh brother has been in poor health in recent days. Let's not let him worry about it until he is better."
Let’s talk about it later.”
Seeing Zhu Heyu say this, Guo Tang had no choice but to nod in agreement.
At this moment, an eunuch from the East Palace suddenly entered the living room quickly, holding a post in his hand, and reported to Prince Zhu Heyu: "Your Highness, an invitation has been sent from the residence of Zhao Junchen, the Minister of Household Affairs."
After hearing the report from the East Palace eunuch, everyone on the scene was stunned.
Zhao Junchen was a thorn in the side of Crown Prince Zhu Heyu, but now he sent an invitation to the Crown Prince's East Palace. The situation was a bit strange.
Prince Zhu Heyu frowned and said: "Zhao Junchen sent an invitation? What is his intention? Bring the invitation and let me see it."
After reaching out to take the invitation, Prince Zhu Heyu opened it and looked at it, but was stunned again. Then he turned his gaze to Zhao Shancai and said: "Although this invitation was sent to the East Palace, the person Zhao Junchen wanted to invite was not
It's not me, but you, Mr. Zhao, who said that I would like to invite Mr. Zhao to meet at Tianhai Pavilion at noon today."
While talking, Prince Zhu Heyu handed the greeting card in his hand to Zhao Shancai.
After Zhao Shancai took the invitation with both hands, he glanced at it for a moment, and then showed a thoughtful expression.
At the same time, Prince Zhu Heyu said: "Mr. Zhao, Zhao Junchen has always been scheming and has ulterior motives. I'm afraid he has no good intentions when he invites you to gather today. In my opinion, you should ignore it."
As Prince Zhu Heyu finished speaking, everyone in the "Prince Party" on the scene also expressed their agreement.
In their view, no matter what Zhao Junchen's intentions were, gathering in private with a corrupt official like Zhao Junchen was damaging to his reputation, and they should naturally try to avoid it.
However, after Zhao Shan thought for a moment, he said: "Your Highness, I think it would be better to go see Zhao Junchen to see what his intentions are, and also take the opportunity to find out his specific plan to rectify business tax.
This will also be beneficial to us in the future.”
Seeing that Zhao Shancai wanted to meet Zhao Junchen, Prince Zhu Heyu frowned slightly, but finally said: "Since Mr. Zhao has his own considerations, I can't stop him. I just hope that Mr. Zhao will never fall into Zhao Junchen's trap."
That’s the trap.”
In fact, Zhao Junchen sent the invitation to Zhao Shancai to the prince Zhu Heyu, probably with the intention of driving a wedge between Zhu Heyu and Zhao Shancai. However, the stubborn character of the prince Zhu Heyu also has advantages, that is, he
He is never suspicious of people he trusts, so Zhao Junchen's ulterior motives are naturally in vain.
On the other side, Zhao Shancai also thought of this and sighed secretly in his heart, but he didn't know whether Crown Prince Zhu Heyu's excessive trust in the people around him was a good thing or a bad thing. He said in his mouth: "Please rest assured, Your Highness, I
If we deal with it, we will never let Zhao Junchen find an opportunity to take advantage of it."
