The arrival of the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun gave the examiner Luo Wenzhong a headache.
How could he not see that His Highness the Eighth Prince must be here for him?
At first, he even had some doubts about the emperor's intention of promoting him as the chief invigilator of the scientific examination. After all, he had just become the chief invigilator, and His Highness the Eighth Prince, who had a quarrel with him, was then appointed as the prince's accomplice. It was a coincidence.
"Does it mean that Your Majesty knows that I framed His Highness the Eighth Prince?"
This hypothesis made Luo Wenzhong a little uneasy. After all, the reason why he had the courage to frame Zhao Hongrun was because as far as he knew, the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun was not concerned by the emperor. Otherwise, he would not have had the courage.
On that day, Luo Wenzhong secretly summoned his slaves and asked his family members to talk to the eunuch who was buying the eunuch, hoping to get some information from the eunuch who bought the eunuch.
Although the purchasing eunuch was considered a low-level eunuch in the palace and had no chance to know anything confidential, for Luo Wenzhong, this was the only way he could get information from the palace.
At dusk, Luo Wenzhong's family sent news, and Luo Wenzhong suddenly realized: It turned out that the number of places for the prince's companions was selected by drawing lots. This did not mean that the emperor intentionally favored His Highness Zhao Hongrun. After all, according to the young eunuch,
It is said that the emperor also exposed the eighth prince's cheating tactics twice during the drawing of lots.
It was not the emperor's will, which made Luo Wenzhong relieved. After all, how could he have the courage to fight with the emperor?
To put it bluntly, if the emperor wanted to kill him, wouldn't it be just a matter of a word?
"But this Eighth Prince... is difficult to handle."
Although he spent a fortune, Luo Wenzhong felt that it was not a loss since he could get some fragmentary information from the eunuch who purchased the eunuch.
After all, the eunuch who purchased the eunuch clearly told his family that the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun was not as ignored by the emperor as rumored. At least in the past month, the emperor's attitude towards him was incredibly tolerant, even if the naughty prince was in the imperial garden.
He burned the golden-scaled tail with a bonfire of purple bamboo and tear bamboo, but the emperor still did not punish him.
When Luo Wenzhong heard this interesting story that everyone in the palace knew, it was like a bolt from the blue.
What does this mean? This means that the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun is not as ignored by the emperor as rumored or imagined. On the contrary, this son is very favored by the emperor.
He is also a prince, and if he is not valued by the emperor, Luo Wenzhong does not mind offending him in order to save his Luo family. The problem is that if the offended prince is actually particularly valued by the emperor, this will be more troublesome.
What's worse is that the eighth prince is not only valued by the emperor, but also has an excellent mind and scheming. In front of Luo Wenzhong, he openly humiliated Luo Wenzhong's son Luo Rong, and he can also speak with a clever tongue.
He was speechless. Although his chest was filled with anger, he had no chance to explode.
"what to do?"
Luo Wenzhong sat in the room and sighed.
"Tuk-tuk-tuk-"
At this time, there was a knock on the door outside the house, which made Luo Wenzhong feel a little surprised.
Because he was only resting temporarily in the wing of Confucius Temple, who would come?
With doubts, Luo Wenzhong stood up and opened the door.
"Eh? Lord Fan?"
Luo Wenzhong was a little surprised. It turned out that the person who came was the same examiner for this scientific examination, his colleague in the Ministry of Personnel, the doctor Fan Su.
Although they are both doctors, there are actually some differences.
You must know that the official department is divided into four departments, namely literary selection, merit examination, seal verification, and honor inspection. Each department has four doctors with the same rank, but one doctor ranks first among them, and the title is "Si Lang", that is, Si Lang
The head of the department.
And the Lord Fan Sufan in front of him is the Chief Minister of the Examination Department.
Luo Wenzhong was the doctor of the Wenxuan Department, and the other party was the doctor of the Examination Department. Although they both belonged to the same official department, to be honest, they didn't have much contact with each other on weekdays.
"Master Fan, are you here to rest too?"
Luo Wenzhong greeted him politely. After all, although he was the chief invigilator of this examination, in terms of official rank, the other party was half a grade higher than him. It was always right to be more polite.
"Haha." Fan Su closed the door smoothly, looked at Luo Wenzhong and smiled softly: "I came here specifically to see Mr. Luo."
"Looking for me?" Luo Wenzhong was a little surprised.
Fan Su waved his hand and asked Luo Wenzhong to sit down on a chair in the room. He lowered his voice and asked, "Based on what I saw today, it seems that Mr. Luo and His Highness the Eighth Prince have a quarrel. I wonder what the reason is?"
"..." Luo Wenzhong remained silent.
In fact, even if he didn't say it, the sixteen fellow examiners present at the time could see it.
But even so, Luo Wenzhong did not want to reveal it. After all, it was not a trivial matter to frame the prince, and it would be very difficult if someone found out that it could be used as a leverage.
Seeing that Luo Wenzhong was unwilling to say anything, Fan Su didn't care either. He just pretended to be worried and said: "That person is the prince after all. If you offend him, I'm afraid Master Luo will be in a lot of trouble."
Luo Wenzhong frowned when he heard this, raised his head and glanced at Fan Su, and said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid Master Fan is not just here to tease Luo?... I wonder if Master Fan has any advice?"
Fan Su smiled slightly and lowered his voice and said: "Fan is just pointing out a clear path to Mr. Luo... Mr. Luo is a smart man. He should understand that Mr. Luo alone may not be able to withstand the Eighth Prince. Why not seek help?"
Where’s the asylum?”
"Seeking asylum?"
Luo Wenzhong's eyes narrowed slightly when he heard this.
Even though he knew that he had offended the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun, Fan Su still said these words, which meant that the person Fan Su said could protect him was most likely a certain prince.
"Is this Fan Su... already involved in a direct feud?"
Luo Wenzhong took a long breath and said nothing.
Since ancient times, ministers who are involved in the direct dispute between princes will end up in a very miserable end unless they find ways to help the prince they assist successfully ascend the throne and become emperor from then on.
Therefore, before the situation between the DPRK and China is clear, smart people will not easily choose to take sides, because once they take the wrong team, it will be in danger of overthrowing the nest, and it is difficult to end well.
It is better to miss an opportunity than to take risks easily. This is Luo Wenzhong's view on the struggle between the princes, and this is also the view of most courtiers in the court.
But it is undeniable that some people try to cling to the new king and become ministers of the dragon.
Seemingly noticing the repulsive expression on Luo Wenzhong's face, Fan Su smiled and persuaded in a low voice: "What are Master Luo worried about?... Is there anything more important than the immediate urgency?"
"The urgent need of the moment..."
Fan Su's words hit Luo Wenzhong's weakness. Indeed, at the moment, what is more important than dealing with the harsh difficulties from the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun?
Thinking of this, Luo Wenzhong gritted his teeth and asked in a tight voice: "Who is your highness?"
As far as he knew, in addition to Crown Prince Hongli, there were also many calls for Yong Wang Hongyu and Xiang Wang Hongjing in the court. Generally speaking, these three are currently the most likely to become the new kings of the future. If Fan Su is loyal to
If it is one of these three highnesses, Luo Wenzhong feels that there is no big problem in taking a gamble.
"East Palace!" Fan Su mouthed a word that surprised Luo Wenzhong.
"East Palace? I didn't expect it to be His Highness the Crown Prince of the East Palace!"
A look of surprise suddenly appeared on Luo Wenzhong's face. After all, Yong Wang Hongyu and Xiang Wang Hongjing were also good choices, but Dan was far behind compared to Prince Hongli of the East Palace. After all, they were the current crown princes, and they were both good in character and talent.
With a middle-class appearance, if nothing unexpected happens, the prince is most likely to become the new king.
"Please give me a recommendation."
After paying attention, Luo Wenzhong bowed respectfully to Fan Su.
Luo Wenzhong would not have thought that Fan Su's request for the prince to protect him was just an excuse, because originally Fan Su was planning to ask the prince Hongli to intervene. After all, the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun was already checking their accounts. This was not a very good thing.
A friendly signal.
As for Luo Wenzhong, it was just a passing incident.
"If I can win over Luo Wenzhong, I believe His Highness the Crown Prince will be happy."
Fan Su left with satisfaction.
That night, Fan Su secretly delivered a message to the East Palace Prince Hongli, saying that the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun was rude and rude, interfering in their internal affairs, and even mentioned that his highness publicly humiliated Luo Rong, the son of the examiner Luo Wenzhong.
arrive.
It is undeniable that the Crown Prince was indeed quite happy when he learned that Fan Su had won over Luo Wenzhong for him.
There is no way, who calls the ministers of the six departments of the province? The ministers are all extremely cautious old foxes, and they will never easily take sides in the direct dispute?
Therefore, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could only try to win over the ministers of the department. After all, among the six departments, the ministers were considered to be high or low. Although they were in charge of hundreds of people, in the end,
There are still the Minister and the left and right ministers above them. Unless there are special circumstances, if they want to climb up, they can only use the wind. Do they have to wait for the minister and the left and right ministers standing above them to die of old age?
In fact, having said that, as the prince of the East Palace, Hongli did not need to win over some officials at such a low price, but he had no choice because the threats from Yong Wang Hongyu and Xiang Wang Hongjing were getting bigger and bigger, especially Yong Wang Hongyu who was the same year as him.
, as far as Prince Hongli knew, he had already won over many officials in the court, which can be said to be the biggest obstacle to his advancement to the throne.
"Feng Shu."
Prince Hongli summoned his Zongwei Feng Shu and ordered: "Go to the Confucius Temple to deliver a message to Lao Ba, telling him to abide by his duties and not to overstep his bounds and interfere with the affairs of the officials. By the way, he mentioned it in a subtle way.
When it comes to Luo Wenzhong, tell Lao Ba not to try to get things done, because after all Luo Wenzhong is a minister of our great Wei Dynasty."
Zong Wei Feng Shu frowned when he heard this and said hesitantly: "Your Highness, the Eighth Prince is not an easy person to get along with. He even dares to contradict His Majesty... As far as I know, His Majesty currently values the Eighth Prince quite highly. For this reason
I'm afraid it's not worth getting offended by such a small thing."
"Do you mean to ask me to give up on the people I managed to win over in the official department?"
"No, the meaning of humble position is that the internal affairs of the civil service are in chaos, and there are many people who are corrupt and bend the law. Even if the Eighth Prince goes to investigate, it may not be possible to trace His Highness to the Crown Prince. But if His Highness wants to protect Luo Wenzhong... knowing that His Highness the Eighth Prince
If you want to deal with this person, His Highness the Prince intervenes, I'm afraid it's not worth it."
"What do you know?" Prince Hongli said displeasedly: "Luo Wenzhong is the chief minister of the Wenxuan Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Cai Huan, the chief minister of the Wenxuan Department, has always been aloof from me. I suspect that this person's heart is towards the second son Hongxuan. If so,
If I can win over Luo Wenzhong for the first time, I can ask him to keep an eye on Cai Huan for me. If Cai Huan is really the second child,
I can also find a way to kick away the people around me and let Luo Wenzhong take the position of superior. At that time, the Wenxuan Department and the Examination Department, the two most important departments of the official department, will be firmly in my hands.
.As long as we hold these two divisions firmly, I will not be afraid no matter how the second brother tries to win over the rest of the staff, do you understand?"
"but……"
Feng Shu wanted to persuade him further, but was interrupted by Prince Hongli.
"I have made up my mind, you don't need to say anything anymore, just pass my words on to Lao Ba."